


The Twisted 12

by AlexCarstairsMalfoy, cassidy_helen_snape



Series: The Twisted 12 [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dumbledore Bashing, F/F, F/M, Fred Lives, Good Severus Snape, Good Slytherins, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, Original Characters - Freeform, Ron Weasley Bashing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:34:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 37,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25569085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexCarstairsMalfoy/pseuds/AlexCarstairsMalfoy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassidy_helen_snape/pseuds/cassidy_helen_snape
Summary: 12 powerful students, all related in one way or another.One with a secret and three with a bond only severed  by death. TheTwisted 12 are coming to Hogwarts and it's going to be a new era not unlike the ones before.This is a  story with powerful  children, minimal Dumbledore  interaction and a very close knit family.Good Snape.References to child abuse.Mature  scenes  and strong language.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Fred Weasley/George Weasley/Other(s), Lee Jordan/Pansy Parkinson, Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley, Sirius Black/Original Male Character(s)
Series: The Twisted 12 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852987
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. Elise Black Character profile

Name: Elise Andromeda Black.   
Gender: Female.   
Birth date: 15th April 1978.   
Wand: Vila hair. Beach wood. 11 inches.  
Pet: Snake named Hades.   
Family.   
Mother: Narcissa Malfoy. (Black)  
Father: Severus Snape.   
Half brothers: Draco Malfoy and Alex Malfoy.  
Cousin: Pansy Parkinson.   
Place of residence: Malfoy Manner.   
Physical appearance.   
Hair: Jet black, wild curls down to her waist.

Eye colour: Bright blue.

Skin colour: Olive.  
Height: Average for her age.   
Other features: Freckle on her nose.


	2. Alex Malfoy Character profile

Name: Alex Malfoy.   
Gender: Male.  
Birth date: 3rd December 1977.   
Wand: Unicorn hair. Ash wood. 12 inches.   
Pet: black Labrador named Ajax.

Family.  
Mother: Malinda Zabini (Rosier)   
Father: Lucius Malfoy.  
Half Brothers: Blaze Zabini and Draco Malfoy.   
Half sister: Elise Black.   
Place of resedence: Zabini Manner.  
Physical apearence.  
Hair colour: Black.   
Eye colour: Deep brown.   
Skin colour: Pale.  
Hight: Short for his age.   
Other features: Birth mark above the left eye.


	3. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer, all Harry Potter related characters, buildings etc belong to J.K Rowling.

Morning of August 25. (Malfoy Manor)  
Elise woke up with a start. A small house elf with bulging purple eyes was standing at the foot of her bed. She screamed which caused the house elf to jump a foot into the air.  
"Lizzie is sorry for scaring Mistress Elise! Lizzie only wanted to make sure little Mistress was up on time to get ready so she can flew over to Zabini manor." the little elf said, looking apologetic.  
Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, Elise stretched. “It's okay Lizzie. Thank you for waking me. Pleas could you make me a light breakfast of crumpets and bacon while I have a shower and get dressed?” She asked, sitting up and climbing out of bed.  
“Of course mistress Elise. Lizzie will be doings exactly that right now." With a soft pop, the elf was gone.   
Walking over to her wardrobe to select an outfit, Elise smiled slightly. Today was a special day. She was going to get her Hogwarts supplies. She would also be seeing her two best friends, Alex and Blaise, who were as good as brothers to her.  
After a few minutes, she chose a black T-shirt with a long lilac skirt, with a lilac traveling cloak to keep her warm. As much as she loved her casual clothes, she always preferred to have a cloak on over them as it made her look that much more put together. She also felt it would give people a look into what she was like which she reserved for those she planned to interact with more than once, along with her family.

Leaving her clothes on her bed she crossed the room to her joint bathroom. Closing the door she flicked her right hand and the taps began to fill the bath, the room being filled with a number of sweet scents. This was not wandless magic as one might think, but rather a charm on the taps which was woven to react to her magic. It saved her ample time every time as her bath-shower combined had a lot of knobs and buttons.  
Stepping into the perfectly heated water, she sighed happily. Sitting down and reaching a hand behind her, she grabbed a bottle of shampoo and began to wash her hair while humming to herself.  
Once done with her hair, she stood under the shower part to get rid of any lingering soap before stepping out of the bath. With another wave of her right hand, all the water and bubbles stopped.  
Unhooking her towel from behind the door and wrapping it round herself, she went back into her room but this time went to sit at her desk.  
Taking her brush out from one of the draws, she tapped a star shaped rune on it before beginning to brush her hair. within minutes, her hair had dried completely. Applying some hair cream, Elise then began to braid her hair. Her hair now in a long braid, she finished it off with a silver hair pin which had a purple snake on it. This hairpin, like all her others, was charmed so that it would keep her braid done up for the entire day, no matter what, and they were all charmed unbreakable.  
Going back over to her bed, she quickly slipped into her outfit but left her cloak on her bed for now. Before she was about to open her bedroom door, she slipped on a pair of black sandals. Opening her door, she was unsurprised to see her brother Draco waiting for her.  
“Morning Dray. Why didn’t you knock? I wouldn’t have taken so long." Elise said raising an eyebrow.  
“I didn’t want to rush you. I know what you’re like on mornings when you have to wash your hair.” Draco said smirking.  
“Is it a crime to take pride in one’s appearance now?” Elise replied, her hands on her hips.  
“I said nothing of the sort," Draco said now grinning.  
"Worm," Elise said, glaring playfully.  
Continuing to joke around with each other the siblings made their way to the dining room.  
"Morning my loves," their mother said by way of greeting as they sat down.  
“Morning mama," Elise said smiling warmly at Narcissa.  
“Morning mother. Father," Draco said, sparing a quick glance for Lucius.  
Elise’s shoulders tensed but that was the only sign she gave to show she knew Lucius was in the room. Finishing her breakfast a bit faster than she usually would, Elise paused before leaving the table.  
“Mama I’m going to get my cloak and Gringotts card and then I’m flooing over to Zabini manor as we discussed over the weekend.”  
“Yes love that’s fine. Malinda is awaiting your arrival. I believe when I spoke to her through the floo not too long ago she said that Blaise is awake but Alex will need a bit of coaxing Narcissa said with a wistful smile, thinking of her stepson.  
Lucius’s face darkened for a few seconds but thankfully Elise was the only one to notice. Tempers always rose and an argument was sure to start if Narcissa had noticed. Alex no longer lived with them, wasn’t even able to visit the manor anymore, and it was all because of Lucius. Their marriage had been strained ever since. Now the only reason Narcissa stayed with Lucius was for Draco’s sake. She didn’t want to separate him from his father.  
“Can I at least come to your room with you to get your stuff?” Draco asked softly, shooting a sideways glance at his sister.  
“Of course. Let’s go. Mama I'll come and see you again before I leave," Elise said as she slid out of her chair and took her brother’s hand.   
“Alright my love. See you in a minute," Narcissa said smiling fondly at them both.  
Back in Elise’s room, Draco sat on her bed while his sister took her wallet which contained her Gringotts card and key to her trust vault out of her desk draw and slipped it into her cloak pocket. Fastening her cloak with the matching butterfly pin she’d received for her birthday, she sat next to her brother.  
“Are you gonna be okay here for the day? I’m sure Malinda wouldn’t mind if you came with us."  
“No it’s fine honestly. Mama's taking me to go and see a play in muggle London for the day. Father doesn’t know of course," Draco said with a secretive smile.  
“That’s great. Makes me feel a lot better. I hate the thought of you having to spend the day with Lucius while mama does Merlin knows what," Elise said with a sneer.  
"I know. I was worried about that too. But I’ve taken up enough of your time. You should say bye to mama so you can get going," Draco said, looking up at the clock above Elise’s personal fireplace. Being the oldest, she got the room with an attached fireplace.  
“You’re right. It's nearly 11. Plus I still need to help wake Alex up," Elise said with a wicked smirk.  
“Merlin help my poor brother," Draco said laughing as Elise swatted at him playfully.  
Sobering up the siblings hugged each other tightly, Draco’s head in the crook of his sister’s neck. Elise went to say bye to Narcissa, giving her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek which her mother returned.  
“See you later dear. Try not to be back too late."  
Back in her room once more, Elise grabbed a handful of floo powder from the pot atop her fireplace, through it into the flames and said clearly, “Zabini Manor!”  
Landing gracefully on her feet, Elise dusted the dirt off her cloak and let out a happy sigh. Looking up slightly, she saw her friend Blaise sitting at the dining table with his mother Malinda Zabini. Rising from the table and walking over to her, Malinda pulled Elise into a warm hug.  
“Elise darling. It's so lovely to see you," The Zabini matriarch said, letting go of her and kissing her on both cheeks.  
“It’s great to see you too Malinda," Elise said returning the greeting.  
“Hey El," Blaise said grinning from his place at the table.  
“Hey Blaise. So where’s Alex, still in bed?” Elise asked with a smirk of amusement.  
"Yeah. You’re welcome to try and wake him up. I’ve had zero luck so far," Blaise said rolling his eyes.  
“Leave it to me."  
Elise left the dining room and made her way to Alex’s room, pausing to chat to some of the portraits on the walls along the way. Opening the door as silently as she could manage, Elise crept into Alex’s room, stood next to his bed by his head and sucked in a breath.  
“Rise and shine!!!!”  
Almost falling out of bed, Alex woke up and yelled.  
“Fuck off! I’m trying to sleep here."   
“Now now. That's no way to talk to your big sister," Elise said, hands on her hips.  
"Excuse me. I'm older than you," Alex laughed, throwing his pillow at Elise. "What are you doing here anyway?"   
“Diagon Alley today. Remember? We’re going to get our supplies. Nobody could wake you up so I volunteered," Elise replied Elise, dodging the pillow so it landed on the floor.  
“Oh yeah of course. Well you certainly woke me up," Alex said scowling which only made Elise laugh harder.  
“Oh shut up. Get out so I can get ready," He said, getting out of bed.  
"Okay okay. I’m going. Hurry. Malinda wants to get there before it becomes really busy and it’s already nearly 12.”  
Elise left Alex’s room in search of Blaise and Alex began to get ready for the day ahead. As he usually did, he put on his favourite muggle song playlist and turned the volume up extra loud. He strode over to his wardrobe and flung open the doors. The familiar black abyss of clothes met his deep brown eyes. With a big grin on his face, he pulled out a pair of black ripped genes and pared them with some white trainers and a black muggle band T-shirt.   
Once he was dressed, he quickly combed his naturally messy hair and messed it even more. He then ran from his room and down the stairs to go to Diagon Alley.   
Time skip***   
Now in Diagon Alley, Alex, Elise and Blaise were in Madam Malkin’s while Malinda had gone to get Elise and Alex’s potions ingredients. Blaise wasn't attending Hogwarts for another two years, but he wanted to come anyway.  
After Alex and Elise had gotten their robes, the trio decided to go to Flourish and Blotts.  
"Blaise, do you wanna stay with Alex or me? I’m going to get a few extra books for personal reading," Elise asked as they entered the book store.  
“I’ll come with you. I spend everyday with Alex after all," Blaise said smiling apologetically at his brother.  
“Hmph, it’s all good. I’ll see you guys in a bit," Alex replied, pretending to look hurt before laughing and smiling at Blaise.  
"Okay. Meet us by the counter," Elise called over her shoulder before leading the way to the potions section.  
As well as getting the required text books for first year, Elise selected a book that talked about the ingredients in potions and why they had to be picked at certain times and other things that would help give a deeper understanding of the brewing process.  
After getting all the other required texts, she also picked out some books on charms, transfiguration and Occlumency. Meeting Alex at the counter, they paid for their purchases and left the store to find Malinda waiting for them.  
“Hi children. I thought we should stay together for the rest of the day as I’d like to see Alex and Elise get their wands. But also Blaise, I thought we might as well get you a pet now so it’s one less thing to buy when you go to Hogwarts. That and you’ve been good to come along despite knowing you’re not going yet," Malinda said, smiling down at her youngest son.  
Next, they made their way to Magical Menagerie. Entering the store, there was a cacophony of noise. Hisses, squawks, squeaks and much more.  
"Okay Blaise, you can go with your brother as the animals you two want are in the completely different direction to where the snakes are. I'll be waiting by the counter.  
Everyone went off in their desired directions. Elise over to the snakes, and Blaise along with Alex to the owls.  
Elise peered into a glass cage containing many different snakes. It was one of three.   
A/N. ~ represents parseltongue.  
She looked at the snakes in the first cage for a while before hearing a hiss from the cage on her right.  
"~Hi there, you’re very pretty,~" Elise hissed with a small smile.  
"~Thank you ssspeaker. What isss your name? I have never met anyone who sssspeakssss the noble snake language. You mussst be a very powerful witch,~" The snake hissed, coming right up to the glass of it’s cage. Elise blushed.  
"~I am ssstill only a hatchling, but thanksss. My name isss Elise. And what isss yoursss? And am I right in asssuming you are a horned ssserpent?~"  
"~yesss hatchling. I am a horned ssserpent. And I do not have a name. I would like to go with you though. Ssso if you agree, then you may name me.~"  
"~But aren’t you supposed to grow up to 100 feet?~"  
"~yesss, but I’m able to slow down my growth. I don’t have to continue growing any bigger than I am until you want me to.~"  
"~You can definitely come with me. How do you like the name Hades? Name of the Greek God of the underworld. And do you have any magical abilities?~" Elise hissed, her eyes alight with excitement.  
"~I like it very much. And yesss I do. I can make myself invisible, I’m able to fly. I am also poisonous but I can make my bite non-poisonous if I choose to,~" Hades hissed with a hint of pride.  
"~That's perfect and very impressive. Will not being in water all the time be a problem for you?~" Elise asked worried now.  
"~No, as long as you buy a tank for me to stay in at night or whenever you have to go somewhere without me then I will be fine to stay with you the rest of the day.~"  
"~Okay great. I’ll sssee if I can buy you with the cage you’re in now. I’ll get my friend’s mother to shrink it and you can wrap around my wrissst. Isss that ok with you?~"  
"~Yesss that isss fine.~"  
"~I'll be back.~"  
With that, Elise rushed back over to Malinda.  
“Malinda, Malinda, I’ve found the snake i’d like. He’s perfect. He won’t grow anymore till I say he can. He can turn invisible and more. He’s so gorgeous. He’s a jade green Horned serpent with fire red stripes with gold jewels. And he’s just perfect. Can you come with me so you can shrink his cage? I’d like to carry him on my person." Elise blurted out in a rush.  
“I’m so glad you found one you like lovely girl," Malinda said with a soft laugh.  
"An excellent choice young Miss Black. Horned serpents make great protectors as they will emit a low musical note whenever they sense danger," said one of the store owners, a lady who’s an old family friend of Narcissa’s.  
“Thank you mam.”  
Grabbing Malinda’s hand, Elise took her over to where Hades was waiting for them in his cage.  
“Oh he really is a beauty," Lady Zabini said with a smile.  
With a light tap on the glass, the cage opened and Elise hissed a warning to Hades.  
"~I'm going to pick you up now. And thisss lady isss Malinda. She'sss like a sssecond mother to me ssso yousss are not to bite her under any circumssstances okay,~" Elise said, looking at Hades seriously.  
"~Yesss Elise. I underssstand. I will not bite Malinda.~"  
Elise unfastened the pin on her cloak and settled Hades so he was resting just above her hips. Meanwhile, Malinda had shrunken his cage and now they were walking back to the counter as Elise fastened her cloak again.  
_______  
In another part of the store, Blaise and Alex were looking at the owls.  
"Okay. What type of owl do you want? That’ll make this easier," Alex questioned, looking down at his brother.  
“A screech owl," Blaise replied grinning. "I love the sound they make.”  
“Of course you do," Alex said amused.  
They moved to where the screech owls were and Blaise's eyes landed on a light gray owl with orange feathers and piercing yellow eyes.  
“I want that one," Blaise said, pointing at it.  
"Sweet. What you gonna call it?” Alex asked as they got closer.  
"Flame," Blaise said matter-of-factly.  
"That's really cool. i’ll go get the store owner to open the cage so you guys can be properly introduced.”  
“I have to come with you or else mama will flip and you know it.”  
“You’re right," alex said with a sigh.  
"Okay. Let's go.”  
They went to go and get the store owner, who helped them open the cage of the owl that Blaise wanted. Blaise slowly put his hand in the cage and stroked the bird’s feathers. It let out a small screech which was a good sign.  
“Is it a boy or girl," Blaise asked, glancing at the store owner momentarily.  
“It’s a boy dear," replied the lady with a small smile.  
"Thanks. Hi boy. Would you like to come home with me?” Blaise asked, turning his full attention back to the owl.  
It nudged his chest with its beak gently in response.  
"Great. I’ll call you Flame. How's that?” The owl let out another small screech and Blaise grinned brightly.   
"Okay great. We've got a match. Now let’s go find my doggie," Alex said impatiently.  
"Okay okay," Blaise said with a chuckle.  
They moved to the dogs section while the lady took Flame in his cage over to the counter.  
_________  
“So many doggies. They're all so cute. But obviously I can only have one," Alex said with a huge smile.  
“That and mama will only allow one in the manor," Blaise laughed.  
“Shush you.”  
Kneeling dowN, alex saw the cutest black lab.  
"Awwwww. He's so adorable! Yes you are!” Alex cooed, stroking the dog’s head. It growled and Alex jumped slightly.  
"Sorry." he put his hand out and the dog sniffed it. After a few seconds the dog nudged him to continue stroking his soft fluffy fur. Alex got up with a laugh. He took ahold of the dog’s leash and they went back to the counter.  
“We’re set. I do have one question though,” Alex said, glancing at the lady who helped with Flame.  
“Is this fluff ball a boy or girl?”  
“That there’s a boy young lad.  
“Thank you. I’ll call you Ajax. Hows that mate," Alex said, scratching the dog behind the ears with his free hand.  
The dog barked loudly and wagged its tail happily.  
“Perfect. If I can just have some food for all the animals we’ll be off," Malinda said with a pleased smile.  
They paid for the animals, food and other necessities and left the shop.  
“We have one more place to go before getting your wands. Narcissa and I have decided that you all need two-way mirrors. They will allow you to talk to us at Hogwarts. It’ll save time and be better if there’s an emergency," Malinda said, leading the way to a store three doors down called Magical security, safety and communication.  
“Stay here. It'll be faster if I just go in alone.”  
The children huddled together in a circle and Malinda went into the store.  
5 minutes later, she was back with a shrunken box that she put in her bag before leading the way to Jimmy Kidell’s Wonderful wands.  
“We’re not going to Olivander's. He talks too much and I’d rather you get your wands from someone who actually understands the meaning of discretion," Malinda said with a sneer.  
Nobody said anything in opposition.  
“Hello Lady Zabini. I’m glad you’ve once again chosen my store for wands. I didn’t think young Blaise was old enough for Hogwarts yet though," Mr Kidell said with a raised eyebrow.  
“He’s not. We’re here for Alex and Elise Black," Malinda said with a thin smile.  
“Oh of course. My mistake. Elise, will I be seeing young Draco here when it’s his time?”  
"Yes. I should think so Sir," Elise said softly.  
“Great. So who would like to go first?”  
“I will," Elise said, stepping forward.  
“Alright. Well my method is different to Olivander’s. I’m a crafter, so you have a lot more input. I will need you to hover your hand over a couple boxes of cores until you feel a tingle in your palm. Similarly with the woods. I’ll need you to hover your hand over different woods until one produces the same tingling feeling. Then it’ll take me a few minutes to make it into your wand that’ll never fail you and only work for you.”

“That’s amazing.”  
“I’m glad you think so, but first, I need to measure you. Hold out your wand arm.”  
Elise held out her right arm and a magical tape measure took all the relevant measurements.  
"Okay. Here's the first box of cores. Veela hair.”  
Elise let her hand hover over the box and smiled when she felt a tingling sensation in her palm. She knew this was the core for her.  
"Brilliant," Mr Kidell said clapping his hands.  
“Now for the woods. This first one is maple wood.”  
Again Elise let her hand hover a few inches above the wood but she didn’t feel anything this time.  
“Not that one? No worries. How about this one, Willow.”  
Once again she let her hand hover and once again she didn’t feel anything.  
“Let’s see, how about beech wood.”  
This time, it took a few seconds and Elise felt the tingle again.  
“What a beautiful match. I’ll put it together now. In the meantime, young Alex, you can start with your wood this time. I’ll measure you after I make your friend’s wand.”  
It took longer for Alex. He went through four boxes of cores and six woods before he found his wand components. Unicorn tail hair, ash wood, 12 inches.  
“And here’s your wand Miss Black, veela hair, beech wood, 11 inches.”  
Elise and Alex both took their wands, looked at each other, then waved their wands simultaneously.  
Blue and silver sparks shot out of Elise’s wand while purple and red sparks shot out of Alex's.“ Blaise, Malinda and mr Kiddel all clapped and cheered.  
Once they put their wands in their boxes and they’d paid, they left the shop and made their way back to Zabini manor.  
_________  
“I would love to stay for dinner, but I promised mama I wouldn’t be back late," Elise said smiling apologetically.  
“No worries dear. You can always come over the night before you go to Hogwarts. Draco can come too then and keep Blaise company," Malinda said with a shrug.  
“That would be great. I’ll tell mama. Thank you for today. Guys I’ll see you later.”  
Elise gave everyone a hug in turn before letting Hades know in a low hiss that they were about to floo. Lady Zabini had shrank all of her purchases for her.  
“They’ll unshrink once you're back in your room.”  
And with that, Elise was off back through the floo to her bedroom.  
With a tired sigh, she sat at her desk to take off her cloak and shoes.  
_____  
An hour later, Lizzie came to tell her it was dinner time where she enjoyed a large plate of spaghetti carbonara and told Draco all about her day. He told her all about the play he saw with Narcissa and she was relieved to hear the joy in his voice.  
That night, she put Hades in his cage and fell asleep within seconds of her head hitting the pillow. One more week and it would be time for Hogwarts.   
Meanwhile, Alex was at home listening to his music and playing with Ajax on his bed, dispite him being told many times not to let him on the bed. He had already began to develop a friendship with Ajax. He was so excited to go to Hogwarts.  
At around 11 o’Clock he turned off his music, got under the covers with Ajax at the bottom of his bed, and fell asleep quickly, dreaming of the types of adventures he would have while at Hogwarts.


	4. Chapter 2

Morning of September 1st  
Alex woke up bright and early, the faint rays of sun creating a warm glow on his bed. Ajax stirred and rolled over and Alex scratched him on the belly, making him wag his tail happily. After a couple of minutes of playing with his puppy, Alex picked up his clothes and put them on the bed, before going to have a long shower. Afterwards, he padded back into his room and put on his clothes, accompanying them with his favourite trainers. He gave his hair a quick comb while playing his music. He made sure all of his stuff was packed in his trunk before running to Blaise's room to wake him up.   
When Blaise woke up, They began to talk for a bit.   
"Well Blaise. I'll be back in a bit. I just need to check that everything is packed," Alex said, giving Blaise a big hug.   
"Haven't you done that many times already?" Blaise laughed into Alex's chest.   
"Hey. Leave me alone. It's just me being organised," Alex laughed back, hitting him on the arm playfully.   
"I'll miss you Ally," Blaise mumbled softly.   
"Me too," Alex said, giving him a tight squeeze before leaving the room.   
When he got back to his room, Ajax bounded up to him and Alex gave him a pat on his soft head. He grabbed some keys of his desk and slotted one into one of the key holes on his trunk. He lifted the top of the trunk and inside was a fluffy dog bed.   
"Ajax," He called. The dog bounded over and sniffed the bed before curling up inside it. The compartment of the trunk had an extendable charm on it, as well as a little window that could be opened to allow Ajax to breath fresh air.   
After shutting the lid, Alex slotted another key into another hole, revealing a different compartment, which had toys, dog food, the food bowls, and other things that Ajax would need.   
After checking everything else was packed, he let Ajax out and sat on the bed with his head on his lap. The two-way mirror on his desk started to glow and Alex picked it up grinning.   
Malfoy Manor.  
"Wakey wakey El," Draco said, shaking his sister lightly.  
"Hmmm? What do you want Dray?" Elise answered groggily.   
"Today's the day," Draco said with a pain smile.  
"Hogwarts! Okay I’m awake," Elise said, now a lot more energetic.  
"Hold on. What are you doing here?" Elise asked, looking at her brother with a confused frown.  
"Nightmare," Draco replied, avoiding his sister’s eyes.  
“I love you brother dear, but you always avoid my eyes when you’re lying to me. You’d think I was a legilimens or something," Elise said rolling her eyes.  
“Fine. I wanted to make the most of our last night together for the next few months..." Draco said flushing.  
Elise swept her brother into a huge hug and held onto him tight, his head falling onto her shoulder. "You should’ve said," She said, kissing the top of his head before letting go slowly.  
"Tell you what, I'll write to you after classes tomorrow and I'll send a letter to mama and ask her to buy you a two-way mirror so we can talk whenever."   
“That would be great," Draco said brightening.  
“That’s better. Now, why don’t we use my mirror to check if Alex is awake? then you can help me pick out what to wear today. How does that sound?" Elise asked, taking hold of her brother’s hand and slipping her mirror out from under her pillow with her free hand.  
“Why’d you decide to keep it under your pillow?” Draco questioned, looking confused now.  
“Never know when Alex will need me. Plus, it’s easy access there."  
“Fair point."  
Looking into the mirror, Elise said in a soft but audible voice, “Alex Malfoy."  
Within seconds, Alex’s grinning face appeared in the glass.  
“Hey El, Draco! How are you?"  
"Shhhh! Alex don’t be so loud. Not that anyone on your end would be sleeping after that," Elise said with a tired smile.  
“Oh quit worrying siss. There's a privacy charm on the mirrors. Only you and the person/people on the other end can hear your conversation."  
“Useful. Especially if we ever have to use them in the halls. You never know who might be trying to listen in," Elise said with a scowl.  
"You worry too much," Alex said, rolling his eyes at his sister.  
“Cautious, and it’d pay for you to be the same way. Remember, mama and Malinda have both said on many occasions how Dumbledore can’t be trusted., and it’s not like we’re not a huge target just for being us and being related to certain people," Elise said, a dark look taking over her features for a moment before it went back to a smile.  
“Don’t worry. I promise I’ll start practicing constant vigilance again once we’re at Hogwarts. I know how high the steaks are," Alex said, now looking serious.  
“That’s all I ask," Elise said relaxing. "Anyway, as nice as this catch up session is, I only really called to make sure you were awake and packed."  
“I’ll have you know, I've actually been up for a couple of hours now and my trunk’s been packed since the night of the day we got our supplies," Alex said smirking.  
"Sheesh. Not even I started packing that early," Elise said with a laugh.  
“Excuse me for being excited. Anyway, you’ll be pleased to know I've also woken Blaise up and he’s in the bath. Reveling in the fact that he won’t have to share it for the next few months," Alex said scowling.  
“Can’t blame him. I’ll be doing the same later," Draco said, ducking a playful whack from his sister.  
"Worm," Elise said fondly, poking him in the side and he grinned up at her.  
"Alright. I’ll let you go. I know you’ll want to get a last bath in and have a proper farewell with your mum and Draco," Alex said with a strained smile.  
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure we’re all together for Christmas," Elise said, smiling sadly in return.  
“I know you will. Now go," He said with a wave, and with that, his face disappeared.  
"Alright Dray, now you go over to my wardrobe and have a look at what you think I should wear while I run my bath," Elise said, getting out of bed with a yawn.  
“On it," Draco said, hopping out of Elise’s bed and bounding over to the wardrobe.  
10 minutes later, Draco yelled through the bathroom door that he’d picked out the perfect outfit before leaving the room.  
Small time skip***  
Exiting the bathroom, Elise smiled brightly as her eyes landed on the outfit Draco had picked out. A knee-length black skirt with silver zigzag patterns on it, a Slytherin green short sleeved shirt and a light black traveling cloak with a picture of a silver eagle on the back. It was just right and would go well with her silver sandals she planned to wear.  
Getting dressed, her mind on Hogwarts and the year ahead, she then walked over to her desk.  
Sitting down in the chair, she proceeded to brush her hair out with the same hairbrush used the other day, but decided to leave it down today. Ticking off everything on her mental checklist, she smiled to herself before leaving her room in search of breakfast.  
Walking into the dining room brusquely, she said a quick good morning to Narcissa and sat down to eat. Practically inhaling her breakfast, she smiled shakily and walked over to the other side of the table to say farewell to her mother. Completely ignoring Lucius, she turned to Narcissa.  
"Mama. I’ll miss you. I’ll call you on the mirror as much as I can. And of course you’ll be the first to know if something’s happened," Elise said, clutching to her mother and burying her head in her neck.  
“Oh love, don’t worry. You'll be fine. I’ll miss you dearly too. I’ll be available whenever you need me. Remember, you’re able to contact Malinda as well as Alex on your mirror so don’t hesitate to contact her if for some reason you can’t reach me," Narcissa said, wrapping her arms round her daughter and rocking her slightly.  
"Okay I'll remember that. I should get going. I’ll call you on the mirror later tonight before I go to sleep," Elise said, pulling herself together and pulling away from the hug.  
Kissing Narcissa on the cheek, she then held her arms open wide and Draco ran to her, falling into them.  
“I’ll miss you too little bro. A lot. Remember what I said," She whispered into his ear, giving him a quick squeeze.  
“I’ll be waiting for that letter you promised me," He whispered back.  
Kissing his forehead, she pulled back and smiled tightly.  
“I’ll be off."  
With a small wave, Elise walked back to her bedroom. Grabbed her shrunken trunk and letting Hades wrap round her wrist, she through floo powder into the fire and was off.  
Time skip. Platform 9 3/4_______

“I’ll see you all at Christmas. Alex take care of your sister, Elise keep him out of trouble as best you can," Malinda said, looking at both children in turn.  
"Hey!" They said simultaneously.  
“You heard me. Now say goodbye to your brother. I’ll be getting him a two-way mirror tomorrow so you don’t have to write letters and use the school owls. Less chance of a security breech," Malinda said sobering.  
Elise looked at Alex. Alex shared a smirk with Elise and they swept Blaise up into a huge bear hug.  
"Oi! This isn’t fair. It's two against one!" Blaise squawked in protest.  
“Oh hush. You're fine. Plus, we won’t be seeing you till Christmas. This is perfectly fair," Elise grinned.  
“You should listen to her Blaise. She speaks the truth," Alex said laughing.  
“I guess this isn’t the worst thing," Blaise said smiling.  
Suddenly, they heard the train’s whistle, making all three of them jump.  
“Right, goodbye’s over sorry kids. Time to get on the train," Malinda said.  
Pulling away reluctantly. Alex and Elise ran to get onto the train and started looking for a compartment.  
“This one’s free," Alex said, opening the doors to one a little way down the train.  
"Perfect," Elise said, walking in behind him.  
Sitting down, Alex took his cloak off and through it to his side, opening his trunk and letting Ajax lie down next to him.

Meanwhile Elise chose to keep her cloak on but did let Hades out and onto her lap.  
"~Are you awake little one?~" Elise hissed, looking down at Hades with a smile.  
"~Yesss, I am awake. I have been since we got onto the platform. Do you have any mice for me to eat?~"  
"~Yesss I do. One second. I'll get one for you.~"  
Taking her shrunken trunk out of her pocket, she tapped the lid with her left middle finger and it returned to it’s regular size. Rummaging around in one of the storage compartments, she found the bag of mice she’d kept for this journey in particular.  
Grimacing, she pulled her wand out from her left sleeve and said “accio mouse!"  
She had practiced that spell among a few others because she absolutely refused to touch Hades’ food with her bare hands. Even for such a beautiful creature, she wouldn’t do it.  
The mouse flew out of her trunk and into the air inches from Hades’ mouth. He lunged forward and swallowed the mouse whole. Casting scourgify for good measure, she put her wand back up her sleeve in it’s holster and closed her trunk.  
Tapping the lid once again, it shrunk and she slid it back into her pocket while Ajax plopped his head in Alex's lap.   
“Dam siss. That was an advanced bit of magic." he said, looking impressed.  
“I had to get his food to him somehow and we both know I definitely wasn’t about to touch it. Plus, it was easier than trying to transfigure a pair of gloves. I’ve been practicing a few house hold charms amongst others," Elise replied, smiling slightly.  
The siblings continued to talk until there was a knock on the compartment doors. Elise's smile dropped and her expression became blank and closed off. Meanwhile, Alex waved to show that the new arrivals could open the doors.  
"Hi. Is it okay if we join you? That’s if you’re not saving the vacant seats?" A dark skinned boy with dreadlocks said with a smile.  
Alex looked to Elise and she nodded slightly.   
"I'm Lee," The first boy said, sitting next to Alex.  
“Fred Weasley."  
"George. Obviously we’re twins so no need to say my last name," George said with a grin.  
"Nice to meet you all. I’m Alex, Alex Malfoy," Alex said with a very cautious smile.  
"Relax. We know about the family feud," Fred started.  
“And we don’t give a rats ass. We already decided we’d be friends with whoever we got along with so last names don’t matter," George continued with a reassuring smile.  
“Well said brother. Like George said, you have nothing to worry about with us. Turning to Elise on his right, he asked with a smile. "And who might you be?"  
“Elise Black," Elise said smiling tentatively back at Fred, her shoulders relaxing slightly.  
“Black? Who are your parents?" Fred said confused.  
“Narcissa Malfoy. I don’t feel comfortable revealing the identity of my father yet," Elise said, looking away.  
"Hey. Remember what we said. We're not going to judge you by who your parents are. Plus, I've never heard a bad thing about Narcissa Malfoy," Fred said putting his hand on top of Elise’s free one.  
She smiled again. “You're a lot different from what I’d expected. It’s a nice change from the cold dismissal I’m so used to when I have to go out with mama, Draco and Lucius," Elise said with a sneer at Lucius’s name.  
“Animosity for Lucius Malfoy. Now that’s something I won’t fight you on. No offense to you Alex," Fred said with an apologetic smile in Alex’s direction.  
“No don't worry about it. I hate him more than anyone in this compartment," Alex said, his expression becoming closed off for a few seconds before the smile returned.  
“Fair enough," Lee said with an easy grin. So what house are we all hoping for," He continued.  
Alex and Elise shared a brief relieved smile.  
“Gryffindor for us. Although that’s only really because it’s expected and there’d be absolute uproar if we got into Slytherin which is where we really want to go," George said wistfully.  
"Right. Our dad’s pretty tolerant and would probably be the only one not to freak out if we ended up there," Fred said with a scowl.  
"Shame. It would’ve been simply amazing to have you two be the first Weasleys in Slytherin," Elise said with a smirk.  
“Oh I completely agree with you, but it’s more trouble than it’s worth," Fred sighed.   
“Shame. I understand though. Well I’m hoping for either Slytherin or Ravenclaw," Elise said, stroking Hades slowly.  
"Cool. Is that a snake you have there," Fred said with a wide-eyed grin.  
“Sure is. Would you like to stroke him?" Elise asked, grinning to herself.  
“Yeah please," Fred said excitedly.  
"Okay. don’t freak out.."  
Looking down at Hades, Elise hissed, "~Hey little one. My friend next to me would like to feel your scalesss. Isss that okay with you?~"  
Opening one eye, Hades hissed back, "~Yesss. that isss fine. What isss hisss name?~"  
"~Hisss name isss Fred. He isss another one you are not to bite under any circumstancesss. In fact, you are not to bite anyone new in thisss compartment, essspecially not Alex.~"  
"~Okay Elise. I will remember thisss.~"  
Switching back to English, Elise told Fred that Hades was fine with him stroking him. “What? You said you wouldn’t freak out," Elise said defensively, noticing Fred staring at her.  
“No it’s nothing like that. You’re a parselmouth. That's amazing," Fred said, eyes alight with excitement.  
Now it was Elise’s turn to stare. “You continue to surprise me," She said with a laugh. She then took Fred’s hand and laid it on Hades' back.  
“What type of snake is he? He is a boy right? I’d hate to be wrong," Fred questioned, looking up at Elise while slowly stroking Hades’ scales.  
“Yes he’s a boy. His name is Hades. He’s a horned serpent and before you ask, he can make his bite nonpoisonous. I’ve already warned him not to bite any of you under any circumstances," Elise responded.  
"Cool. Thanks."  
"Who's this?" Lee questioned, reaching out to touch Ajax.   
In response to this, Alex turned Ajax's head towards him and stroked him softly before he could make any moves. "This is Ajax. He is cautious around new owners so just let him sniff your hand and then you can stroke him.   
Lee did this and for a while, him and Alex just stroked Ajax's soft fur.   
"Anyway," Lee said loudly, making Fred and Elise jump.  
He smirked. “What house are you hoping for Alex?”  
“Slytherin or Hufflepuff," Alex replied laughing.  
"Wow. The houses that are poler opposites in some ways but really similar in others," George said surprised.  
"Well, I’m hoping for Ravenclaw." Lee said, glancing at his watch. "Also, we should probably change into our robes now. We'll be arriving soon. Want us to leave Elise?” Lee said, looking over at her.  
“No no you’re good. That won’t be necessary," Elise said, before switching to parseltongue again. “~We'll be arriving at Hogwartsss soon so you’ll have to wrap around my wrissst again after I change into my school robesss,~" Elise hissed softly to Hades.  
"~Okay no problem,~" Hades hissed back.  
They changed into their robes and continued talking.  
"Okay, before we arrive, I want us to all agree on something," Alex said suddenly.  
“Yeah?” Lee said with a questioning glance.  
“I want us all to agree that no matter what house we all end up in, we’ll still be friends. I’m sure we all know about the Slytherin versus Gryffindor rivalry. We can’t let that split us up," Alex said, looking at Lee and the twins in turn.  
"Agreed," They all said.  
Leaving the train, they passed the carriages and Alex squealed in delight as he saw the black, skeletal winged horses that he loved so dearly. He ran forward to pet the nearest Thestral.  
"They're so beautiful," He squealed, stroking one.  
“Yes I know you love them. I’m sure if we ask nicely, you'll be able to come and visit them some time," Elise said with a small smile.  
"Okay fine," Alex sighed, coming back over to the group.  
"Firs years, firs years over here! A bellowing voice called suddenly. “No more than four to a boat."  
"Dam. one of us is gonna have to go into a boat with three strangers," George said with a frown.  
“It’s cool. I’ll take one for the team," Lee said smiling.  
“You sure?" Elise asked, meeting his eyes.  
“Yeah sure. It’s no problem."  
“Thanks. Okay see you inside," Elise said, waving with the others.  
Elise, Alex and the twins got into a boat together while Lee climbed into a boat with three terrified looking kids.  
After a few minutes of the boats gliding across the inky black water, they all gasped as the castle came into view.  
“It’s even cooler than dad described," Fred said grinning.  
"Right," George said with a grin of his own.  
A boat at a time, everyone climbed out and walked in a line, the few steps up to the castle doors where the man, who told us he was called Hagrid earlier, knocked loudly, making some people jump.  
“The firs years Professor McGonagall,"  
“Thank you Hagrid. I’ll take them from here. Quickly. come inside," Professor McGonagall said, looking down at the first years.  
Inside, everyone started talking loudly until Professor McGonagall called for silence.  
“Welcome to Hogwarts. You will wait here until I come back to take you into the Great Hall for the sorting ceremony. There are four houses at Hogwarts. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. While you are here, your houses will be like your family. You will sleep in your house dormitories, study and spend free time in your house common room, and eat at your house tables. Any achievements may win you house points, while rule breaking will cost you points. I hope you are a credit to whichever house you become a part of. Now I will leave you to smarten up," Professor Mc'gonagall disappeared into the Great Hall while the students began to talk to one another in loud excited voices.  
“Anyone know how we’ll be sorted?” Lee asked, rejoining the group.  
“I do but i’m not telling," Elise said in a sing song voice.  
“How do you know? Mum refused to tell me," Alex asked scowling.  
“I’m very good at pretending not to be listening when mama’s talking to Lucius or someone else about her Hogwarts days," Elise said, smiling sweetly.  
“And you’re sure you won’t tell us? Pretty pretty please?" George begged, focusing solely on Elise when he said this.  
She blinked, glared at him then looked away.  
'no. I Am not telling any of you," She said now crossing her arms.  
“Fine fine. We’ll wait. It's cool," Alex said, grinning to himself.  
Elise focused her glare on him before it gave way to a smile.  
Small time skip***

“Follow me children into the hall," Professor McGonagall said, reappearing in the entrance to the hall.  
Getting into a line, Alex and the others taking care to stay together, they entered the Great Hall.  
Elise, Alex, the twins, and Lee were talking in hushed voices while the first few students were being sorted.  
Suddenly, professor McGonagall called, “Black, Elise."  
Alex nudged her and her expression going blank once again, she walked up to the stool, taking the hat from McGonagall.  
Elise’s POV.  
The hat covered my eyes which made me relieved honestly. I didn’t want to be able to see everyone staring at me.  
A voice suddenly spoke inside my mind. "Miss Black. So much like your mother in personality. A great mind. Not the most trusting however. Extremely loyal but only to those you consider friends or family. It's not easy to get the title of friend with you either. Those boys are very lucky. Hufflepuff is out. I wouldn’t dream of sending you to Gryffindor."  
"Good. You might not survive," I muttered angrily to the hat.  
"Oh. I know you have no love for the house of lions. However, you have no plans to abandon the Weasley boys despite knowing their fate. They’re lucky indeed."  
"Can we get on with it please? As great as this conversation is, I’d like to just get to the point."  
"Patience my dear."  
I huffed, but let the hat continue.  
"You'd do well in Ravenclaw However, I don’t believe it’s quite the perfect place for you either. Better be... Slytherin! The hat shouted, making me smile for a second before my mask slipped back into place.  
I heard my friends and brother cheering the loudest and I waved to them as I sat down at the Slytherin table.  
End of Elise’s POV.

“Jordan, Lee," McGonagall called a few seconds later.  
Elise crossed her fingers under the table, hoping her friend got his wish.  
Lee’s POV.  
"Mr Jordan. It's been a while since I sorted your parents."  
You can talk?" I said slightly surprised.  
"Yes. It does come in handy with my job."  
"And you can see my thoughts?"  
"Yes. That's right. An inquisitive mind. Definitely Rvenclaw material. Also fiercely loyal to your friends. You'll do well. I can see it all in here. Looks like you’ll be getting your wish."  
"Ravenclaw!" yelled the hat for everyone to hear.   
I grinned in the direction of my friends and walked over to the Ravenclaw table, sitting on the end of one bench.  
End of Lee’s POV.

“Malfoy, Alex."   
Alex’s POV.  
Sitting down on the stool, I let the hat fall over my eyes.  
"Umm hi?" I said, feeling kind of stupid talking to a hat.  
"Hello young Alex. Where shall I sort you? I see loyalty. Yes lots of that, especially to Elise and the rest of the people you call family, But you’ve also had to learn how to fight for survival. You've faced hardships that no young child should have to ever face.  
"Do I get a choice?"  
"I'll definitely consider your choice."  
Okay. I’d like to be in Slytherin with Elise. Plus, I just don’t think I’d be truly happy anywhere else."  
"Yes. You're quite right. Okay. Better be... Slytherin!!!"  
I smiled and waved to the twins before joining Elise at the Slytherin table.  
She smiled at me briefly and I smiled back at her, reaching under the table to scratch Ajax on the ears. I decided to take him out of my trunk as I wanted to keep him with me.   
End of Alex’s POV.

“Weasley, Fred."  
Fred’s POV.  
"Mr Weasley. The fourth one... How many of you are there?" The hat grumbled, making me chuckle.  
"Two more coming after George," I replied.  
"Merlin help me. Okay. Lets see. I know where you’d like to go, but I can see you know why that unfortunately isn’t possible."  
"I know... It's shit. You're job is to sort us to the house we suit the most, but because some of my family are prejudice, that job is being made difficult."  
"I understand your frustration, but I this case we must do what is easy, but do not take that route with your life. I will be most displeased if you do. You may face adversity for being so close with two Slytherins, and likely a lot more than that in the near future. People will try to dissuade you from being their friends but you must fight against it."  
Obviously. I already told Elise and Alex that George and I don’t care about who they might be related to. I won’t let anyone change my stance."  
"I'm glad to hear that. Okay. Lets not prolong the inevitable any more. Gryffindor!" The hat shouted, the last word for everyone to hear.   
I grimaced when I caught George’s eye and he smiled at me reassuringly. Feeling comforted at the fact that George and I would still be together, I took a seat at the Gryffindor table, next to my older brother Percy.   
End of Fred’s POV.

George’s POV.  
McGonagall called my name and I walked up to the stool, taking the hat from her on my way. I sat down and braced myself.  
"Hello Mr Weasley."   
"George will do, I said.  
"Very well. I won’t torture you with what we both already know. Your brother’s already made his opinion clear and I’m sure you share it."   
"Yes I do. Go on then," I said, resigning myself to the fact that we’d have to pretend to love the lions den. At least we’ll still be friends with Elise and Alex. Not even mum can change that.  
"Just what I like to hear."  
Okay. I’ll put you in... Gryffindor!"  
I plastered a huge smile on my face and joined Fred at the Griffindor table. He patted me on the back and whispered, “Don't worry. We'll see them tomorrow."  
“Yeah you’re right," I whispered back.  
End of George’s POV.

While the rest of the students were being sorted, the quintet were off in their own minds. After the last student were sorted Dumbledore stood up, his eyes twinkling, arms wide open as if he was giving everyone a hug. “Welcome, to our new students and welcome back to those returning. I'll keep it short as I’m sure you’re all eager to tuck in. The forest is off limits to all students without accompaniment of a professor."   
At this, Alex chuckled darkly to himself and nudged Elise. "Yeah right. I'm definitely going in there with a professor," He said sarcastically.   
"You're not going in there alone," Elise replied sternly.   
Alex just shook his head in response and continued to listen to Dumbledore's rambling.  
"The list of band items can be found on the door of Mr Filch’s office. And now, the feast!“ With a flourish of his wand, vast amounts of food and drink appeared on the tables and everyone dug in.  
"Finally. I thought he’d never shut up," Elise said rolling her eyes.  
"Exactly. I’m starving," Alex said, piling loads of food onto his plate.  
“Of course you are. i'm not that hungry," Elise laughed, taking a much smaller portion of food. Ajax was lying peacefully under the table while Alex and Elise talked for a while, before they all met the Twins and Lee and separated to go to their common rooms.  
Entering the Slytherin common room, Alex and Elise took a moment to look around and admire the decor before focusing on the professor, who had just come in.  
“Welcome to Slytherin. For those of you joining us this year. I am professor Snape. As you’ve already been told, Slytherin is a family. We take care of our own. That means no mindless squabbling, no bullying each other of any kind, and look after one another. The rest of the school for the most part will be okay, but there are still those that cannot be reasoned with and will seek to cause you harm. Always be with at least one other student at all times, even if you think you’re safe. Do not disobey this rule. It’s for your own protection. If you must argue about something, it does not leave this common room. We must present a united front at all times. My door is always open, but please do not come to me for every little thing. Attempt to find a prefect first if you think they’ll be able to help. All assignments are to be completed promptly and to the best of your ability, and finally, room arrangements. The dormitories are split into triples and doubles. There are a few singles too. This is so that family members may share no matter what year you’re in. This also means that you may choose your roommates. There are special protections on the rooms. You and your roommate/s will agree on a password and then if in the future you wish to allow anyone else into your rooms, they will have to add their signature by adding a drop of blood onto the door handle. This will allow their magical signature to be remembered next time. If someone tries to get into your room and you’re not there, not only will it not open but the handle will glow red. If they try to come in but you don’t want anyone to be able to get in at that moment, it will glow blue. The only one who is able to pass all these enchantments including your password is myself and the house elves. I will only do this if there is an emergency. One more thing. Curfew for first to fourth years is 9 PM. Fifth and sixth years 11, and 7th years is midnight, unless you have astronomy, in which curfew is as soon as your lesson has finished. You may go to your rooms now. Boys to the left, girls to the right."  
Everyone but Alex and Elise moved to talk and decide on roommates.  
“Professor, may we speak to you in the corner please?” Elise asked, walking over to her father.  
“Of course. I assume this is about Alex's special circumstances?" Severus questioned, his features softening slightly.  
"Yes. That and I’d like a double room so Pansy has somewhere ready for her in two years," Elise replied, smiling ever so slightly.  
“That’s fine. You can have the first room on the first landing. It's a double. As for you Alex, your room is the second one on the second landing. You may go now Mr Malfoy. I’d like to talk to your sister alone for a minute," Severus said softly.  
“Yes Sir. good night Elise," Alex said, smiling politely and walking up the stairs to his room with Ajax close behind him. He set his password and strode into his room and he found his trunk in the corner. He got ready for bed, fed Ajax, and grabbed the two-way mirror from his trunk and said clearly, "Malinda Zabini."   
Not even 5 seconds later, his mother's smiling face stared back at his.   
"Hello dear. How are you doing?" she asked.  
"Hi mum. I'm doing well. I've been sorted into Slytherin," He said, grinning through the mirror.   
"Oh that's amazing Alex. Congratulations!" She said with a big smile.   
"I know. I'm so happy. Elise is in Slytherin too."  
"That's amazing. Tell her I said hello and well done too!"   
"Yeah I will. I am a bit tired so I'm going to go to bed."  
"Bye Alex. have a good sleep," Malinda said, blowing a kiss before ending the call.  
Alex put the mirror back in his trunk before snuggling up in his bed with Ajax lying at the bottom.

“You know where my office is should you need me at any time?" Severus asked Elise back in the common room.  
“Two doors down from your classroom. Mama told me," Elise replied.  
“Good. You can come to my office this weekend and I'll show you where my quarters are. I'm proud of you for getting into Slytherin El, and I hear you have your own snake now?” Severus asked, raising an eyebrow.  
“Yep. Wanted a pet I could communicate with. Plus, you know how much I love snakes," Elise said, stroking her arm where Hades was.  
“It may stay with you, but you will have to leave it in your room for potions. It wouldn’t be safe otherwise."  
“I understand. I had planned to do as much,"  
“Alright. You should get some sleep now. Say hello to your mother for me. Night little one," Severus said, squeezing Elise’s shoulder.  
“I will, but i’m not little," Elise said, wrinkling her nose.  
“You’ll be my little one till you're at least a fourth year," Severus said, smirking down at her.  
“I guess I can live with that," Elise replied, smiling one last time before going up the stairs and into her room.  
_____  
Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor common room, the male prefect told the students where their rooms were and how there’s basically no rules, accept don’t embarrass the house and get your work done on time.  
“Rooms are split into doubles and triples this year so find a roommate and get upstairs. Curfew for you firsties is 9 PM. That’s all you really need to know for now. One of us prefects will help you to breakfast tomorrow," the prefect said, looking bored.  
Fred and George were the first upstairs, knowing they wanted a room for just the two of them. Going into their room, they got ready for bed and chatted in hushed tones till their eyes began to droop.  
____  
Arriving at the Ravenclaw tower entrance, the prefect stopped and knocked on the bronze knocker.  
"/I am not alive, but I grow; I don't have lungs, but I need air; I don't have a mouth, but water kills me. What am I?/"  
“To get in, you’ve got to answer the riddle correctly or you’ll be stuck till someone else comes along. Fire," said the prefect, looking at the knocker on the last word.  
"/Correct,/" the knocker announced in it's musical voice.  
“Welcome to Ravenclaw. There aren’t many rules, but you are expected to follow them all,“ spoke professor Flitwick, who had been waiting for the first years to arrive. "I am professor Flitwick," he continued. "My office door is always open. The only rules we have are that all assignments must be completely quickly, and to the best of your ability. Absolutely no bullying is tolerated in this tower. Respect everyone, and if you need to stay up past curfew for work related reasons, let a prefect know. The rooms here are divided into singles, doubles, and triples. There are only three singles on each landing however, so you will have to be quick if you want one. Okay. Off to bed you go," And with one last smile, professor Flitwick was out the door.  
Back in Elise's room'in'in'in 

Elise’s POV.  
Yawning, I changed into my pajamas and let Hades off my arm.  
"~I am going to put you into your cage for the night. Do you need anything firssst?~" I hissed softly to Hades.  
"~No. I am fine. Will I be coming with you to classsesss tomorrow?~"  
"~Yesss, but my father said I must leave you in my room for one of my classsesss becaussse the environment will be harmful to you,~" I hissed, sitting down on my bed.  
"~Thisss isss underssstandable. I will be fine asss long asss I have some food.~"  
"~Okay. I will make sssure that if I can not give you something before I leave, I will tell the houssse elvesss.~"  
With that, I let Hades off my arm and he slithered into his cage.   
sitting back on my bed, I picked my wand up and said “accio mirror!”  
My two-way mirror came flying towards me and I caught it. Looking into the glass, I said “Narcissa Malfoy."  
“Hi my darling. How are you?” Mama asked, smiling at me.  
“I’m good mama. Just tired. Papa says hi by the way," I told her, yawning again.  
“I won’t keep you long. Tell him I’ll write to him soon.”  
“Alright. Mama, I was wondering if you could buy Draco a mirror as well tomorrow so we don’t have to write letters," I said, now snuggling under the covers.  
“Of course love. I’ll buy him one. Now you get some sleep. Your exhausted. Love you sweetheart."  
“Love you too mama. Night. Give Dray a hug for me please.”  
“I will dear. Bye."   
Once my mother had signed off, I put the mirror under my pillow and rolled over, falling asleep in minutes.  
Author’s note. Hey people. Sorry this chapter’s a bit late, but as you can see it’s because of my writing style. I don’t like leaving things out haha. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Chapter three coming soon. Bye for now.   
Destiny. 


	5. Chapter 3

On the morning of the second of September, Alex was running down to meat Elise in the common room, Ajax following behind.   
Hey Elise. Lets go to breakfast. I'm starving," Alex said, leaning against the wall.   
"Hey. Yeah lets go," Elise said before looking down at Hades, who was curled around her arm. "~Hey little one. We are going to breakfast now,~" she hissed.   
"That isss fine," he hissed back, closing one eye.   
"You know El. I still get a little freaked out when you do that," Alex laughed as they left the common room.   
In response, Elise began to talk to Alex in Parseltongue to his annoyance. This caused them to laugh until Elise couldn't hold the language much longer. It was different when you were trying to talk to a person who couldn't speak the language.   
Entering the great hall, they saw the twins and Lee waving at them.   
"Hey guys," they all called. Elise and Alex received strange looks as they walked to stand between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables to talk to their three friends.   
Ajax eyed the food hungrily, in which Lee gave Alex a questioning look.   
"Only give him bread though," Alex said, and Lee picked up a small piece of bread and Ajax quickly ate it.   
They all began to talk for a few minutes before Elise spotted Professor McGonagall striding purposely towards them.   
"Malfoy, Black. Go to your own table," she barked, her hands on her hips.   
"She's so annoying," Elise sneered, sitting down at the Slytherin table and picking up a bacon roll.   
"Exactly. All we were doing was talking to our friends. You could just tell that it's because we're Slytherins," Alex said with a sad expression.   
"I told you there would be prejudice against us," Elise replied, looking up and flashing a sad smile towards the Gryffindor table, which Fred and George returned.   
They were soon distracted by a disturbance overhead. Hundreds of different coloured owls were swooping through the air, dropping parcels and letters in front of their recipients. Alex and Elise both grinned as their family owls dropped two parcels in front of them. Quickly opening them, a box of chocolate frogs tumbled out of Elise's package, while Alex picked up a box of Burty Bots Every Flavour beans. Alex grinned at his sister before opening the box, taking out a red bean and popping it into his mouth.   
"Gross.Green Bean," He said, grimacing as he washed down the foul taste with some pumpkin juice.   
"I can never trust those things. I don't even think there are any good flavours. They say that there are but I just don't believe it," laughed Elise, opening a chocolate frog and looking at the card. "Ugh look. It's Dumbledore."   
Alex pulled a disgusted face and said, "I don't understand how that manipulative dumb fucker has a card,"   
"Neither do I," Elise responded, crumpling up the card and ripping it to shreds. Alex broke into fits of laughter at his sister doing this and so did a couple of the other Slytherins.   
After they talked for a bit longer, Professor Snape strode up to the table with a number of parchment rolls.   
"Here are your timetables for the year," He said, before walking along the length of the table and passing each student their timetable.   
When Alex and Elise had got their's, they started to compare them.   
"Oh look. We have Charms, potions, and Defence Against the Dark arts with Lee," Elise exclaimed, shooting a happy glance to Lee.   
"That's great," Alex replied consulting his timetable. We have Charms first, then we have Transfiguration with moody McGonagall, then we have break at 11 to 11:30. Then we have Defence against the dark arts. After that will have lunch. For our last two lessons, we have potions and Herbology. Not a bad day if I do say so myself."   
"Yeah. Shame we don't have lessons with Fred and George though," Elise said.   
"I know, but you know that wouldn't be a good idea. not necessarily for us but the rivalry would mess everything up."  
"I know," Elise replied with a sad expression on her face.   
Finishing their breakfast, the siblings waved to their three friends and they quickly followed them out of the hall.   
"What do you guys have today," asked Elise, looking at Fred and George.   
"Defence," they both chorused.   
"Interesting. I need to go and get my wand so I will be back in a minute," Elise said.   
"Me too," said Alex, before running to catch up with Elise.   
"Forgot your wand too," asked Elise, raising her eyebrow.   
"Yeah. Do you think it's a good idea to bring Ajax with me?"   
"I can't see why not. Though your situation will be the same as mine when it comes to potions.”  
"Not fare," Alex grumbled.   
After grabbing their wands, they hurried back to the twins and Lee.   
"Ready? Fred asked.   
"Yep," the siblings replied and they all went to their respective classrooms.   
"So Lee, you excited for charms? I definitely am.” Elise asked. “Yep.” 

he said in response, before scratching Ajax on the ears.   
"You really like him don't you," Alex laughed.   
"Yeah. He's great.   
Reaching the classroom, they stood outside and waited for the teacher to arrive.   
"Our head of house teaches Charms. Maybe we'll have him," said Lee. And sure enough, Professor Flitwick had opened the door and ushered them all in.   
"There's a table for 3 over their," Alex said, gesturing to a table at the back.   
"Perfect," Elise replied, striding to the table and sitting down, Alex and Lee sitting on either side of her.   
Professor Flitwick was tiny. He had to stand on a pile of books to be able to talk over his desk. "Hello everyone. Welcome to charms. Lets start with the basics. Charms are a type of spell. They can be easily confused with transfiguration but that changes the nature of an object, person or creature, while charms add certain effects to an object or creature, such as making an object fly. We will be learning the wand lighting charm. The incantation for this is Lumos. You shall make notes as I speak. This charm is simple, but requires a lot of concentration. Take care not to set your wand alight as this could cause prominent damage. The counter charm is Nox. You will be learning this after you have practiced the wand lighting charm."   
Elise, Alex and Lee were eagerly writing down everything that Professor Flitwick was saying. Alex gave Elise a tap on the arm and whispered, "How on earth wasn't this created before the 18th century?" he laughed before jotting down this detail.   
"I know right," she agreed.   
Lee grinned at the two in agreement and they drew their attention back to Professor Flitwick.   
After explaining more of the spell's history, he did a demonstration. After swiftly performing the counter spell, he told the students to give it a try.   
"Lumos!" Alex, Elise and Lee all said at the same time. A flicker of light emitted from Elise's wand, while nothing came out of Alex's or Lee's.   
"Well done El," Alex exclaimed.   
"Thanks," Elise replied, a small blush creeping on to her face.   
Meanwhile, Fred and George were in Defence Against the Dark Arts with their teacher, Professor Alvares, who was bald and had dark blue eyes. They were learning the basics of the subject and were starting to learn about vampires. Fred and George found the subject very interesting.   
After the lesson had finished, they hurried out of the classroom to meet Alex, Elise and Lee, who were hurrying out of their classroom at the exact same moment.   
"Hi guys," Elise said with a huge grin on her face.   
"Hey," said Fred.   
"How did your lesson go?" added George.   
"It went really well," Lee began to explain. "We were learning the wand lighting charm and then we started to work on the counter charm. We all had mastered it before anyone else and look," Lee grinned before all three of them showed the twins a chocolate frog each.   
"That's awsome," exclaimed the twins.   
They continued to talk until they went their separate ways for their next lesson.   
The day began to fly by in a blur, and soon, it was time to go to their last lesson of the day. The Gryffindors had Transfiguration, while the Slytherins had potions with the Ravenclaws.   
Walking into the Potions classroom, they stared around at the different ingredients surrounding the room. They were amazed. the students took their seats as Professor Snape swept into the room, his robes billowing behind him.   
"Settle down everyone," he said in a stern tone. He began calling the names of his students and when he came to Elise's name, he quickly flashed her a little smile which she returned.   
When he had finished the register, he began to talk about his subject, not braking eye contact with the class.   
"You are all here to learn the subtle science and exact art of making potions," he started. He spoke in such a low tone, that it was almost a whisper, but the class was silent. He seemed to not need any effort to have the class under control. "As there is little wand waving," he continued, "You will hardly believe that this is magic. You most likely won't really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of those liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you many things, from bottling fame, to brewing glory, to even putting a stopper in death, if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."   
Elise, Alex and Lee were wrapped in concentration. Many of the other students looked intimidated, possibly even frightened, but the three new better.   
"Now. The first potion you will be studying is the forgetfulness potion. I hope you will do well. You will be studying the theory today and will be making it in your next lesson. I would appreciate it if you would start writing notes now."   
As soon as he said this, everyone immediately began to write.   
"As I said before, the forgetfulness potion is simple. The amount of memory loss can vary, depending on how much a person has consumed. When correctly made, it should be orange in colour."   
With a quick wave of his wand, the instructions began to appear on the board.   
"You will need two drops of Lethe River Water, two Valerian sprigs, two measures of standard ingredient, and four mistletoe berries," he read aloud. "The Standard Ingredient is a herb, or mixture of dried herbs with many magical applications and properties that is used as an ingredient in Potion making. It can be crushed into a powder, or used as it is. It is also used in many other much more advanced potions as well as this one. Valerian sprigs can be found in Asia and Europe. They have a green stem with green leaves, and the flowers are pink. The sprigs of Valerian are used in the following potions. The fire breathing potion, the sleeping draft, and the one you will be making in your next lesson. The root can be used in the Draft of peace and the Draft of living death. However, as you will only be using the sprigs, I am not expecting you to remember all of this. The berry of the mistletoe is small, white, and waxy. It is also used as an ingredient in antidote to most common poisons. The use of mistletoe berries as an ingredient in the Antidote to common poisons is ironic, as the non berry parts of the mistletoe plant are extremely poisonous, causing intense stomach pain, diarrhoea, low pulse, visual disturbances, and convulsions if eaten. However, the berries are considered relatively non toxic if only a small amount are ingested, but can cause stomach upset when eaten in larger quantities, so when you make this potion, I hope you won't be hungry in the slightest. I would hate to have to send one of my students to the hospital wing because they had a moment of hysteria," he said with the ghost of a smirk. "The only ingredient I haven’t yet mentioned is the Lethe River Water. It’s water, from the River Lethe that causes memory loss, end of story. Nothing sparkly or fanciful."   
Elise and Alex chuckled a bit after that remark, but concentrated again when he started to explain what to do.   
After they had written everything down, the hour had flew by, and it was time to leave.   
With a small wave to her dad, Elise followed the others out of the classroom to meet Fred and George. As they were walking, Alex spotted the twins around the corner.   
"Hey guys," he called, running to catch up with them.   
"Hi Alex," they both said together.   
"Where are the others?" Fred added.   
"Oi, you too. Over here," Alex called with a laugh.   
After Lee and Elise had caught up with them, they all went out into the courtyard and lounged by a big tree. They spent the next couple of hours just chatting before they made their way into the grate hall and sat at their separate tables.   
Meeting up once again after dinner, they strolled about the halls for a bit before going to their common rooms for the night. Entering their bedrooms, Alex and Elise spoke to their family's on the mirrors, fed their pets, and fell asleep, excited about the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi people, we hope you enjoyed this chapter.  
> Chapter 4 should be up around this time next week.   
> Remember you can also find this fic on Wattpad.  
> Bye for now, Alex and Destiny.


	6. Author’s Note

Hey y’all.  
We’re really sorry that this story hasn’t been updated in so long.The prime Minister over here is an idiot so Alex is back at school. This means that he has less time to write. Those of y’all doing online classes or back at physical school will understand. When you get back from school especially in the first few weeks you just want to chill or sleep.We are aiming to get chapter 3 out within the next month. Till then, we hope you’re enjoying the story, bye for now. Thank you for baring with us.  
Alex and Destiny, X.


	7. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited chapter 4. We’re so sorry this chapter took so long. Writer’s block and the fact that Alex is back at school now are to blame haha. We know that in the books it says the Room of requirement can’t supply food, but we’re bending the rules in this fic. Plus nothing J.K says is credible anymore.  
> I’m going to start writing chapter 5 tomorrow so with any luck it’ll be out by Sunday.  
> Anyway, onto the story.

The lessons throughout the next few days flew by, and before Alex and Elise had realized, it was the weekend. The five friends met out side the great hall after having a refreshing and long sleep.  
"So guys," George said brightly. "What are we planning on doing today?"  
"Nothing really," Alex responded, stroking Ajax as he walked. "Oh yeah," he continued. "We need to find somewhere else to hang out as we can't be in the common rooms together or be outside during the winter."  
"I agree," replied Fred. Lee nodded in agreement.  
"Me too, and by the way, I need to see professor Snape regarding potions. You can all come with me if you want, and then you can find somewhere and I'll call Alex over the two-way mirrors we have. They have a charm on them so you won't hear mine and Al's conversation, but he will take you to come and get me," Elise said.  
"Okay that's fine," They all said before making their way into the great hall. After finishing their breakfast, they all went to go to professor Snape's office. Walking up to the door, Elise paused before knocking. "Remember Al, keep your mirror on you so you can come and get me,"  
"Of course. See you later," Alex waved.  
"See you," the other three said before walking off.  
Elise knocked a pattern on the door. It was a particular pattern her and her father had used for years so he would always know it was her.  
"Enter," Her father’s voice responded from the other side.  
Pushing the door open, she walked in and closed it gently behind her.  
"Hello, little one," Severus said with a small smile.  
"Morning papa. How was your night?" Elise said, sitting down in a comfy looking armchair her father had conjured.  
"It was quite nice. How has your first week been here?” Severus asked, putting away the papers on his desk.  
“It’s been great. All the classes are so much fun. I've also made great friends in the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan, and of course I have Alex." Elise's smile widened.  
“Do I need to worry about Monsieurs Weasley?” Severus asked, smirking.  
“No of course not!" Elise said indignantly, a blush colouring her cheeks.  
“If you’re sure. So, where’s this fantastic snake of yours?" Severus said with a raised eyebrow.  
"'he's sleeping on my wrist at the moment. One second.“ Taking off her cloak, Elise stroked Hades’ head slowly while quietly hissing to him. “~Wake up.~"  
"~Why?~" Hades hissed, half opening one eye.  
"~Becaussse we are in my fathersss office, and I want to introduce you to him. He wantsss to meet you.~"  
"~Fine. Does he have any ratsss for me to eat? and what isss hisss name?~"  
"~No, but i’m sure he wouldn’t mind asssking the houssse elvesss for some, and hisss name isss Severus. You know what I am about to say about biting?~" Elise hissed, giving Hades another one of her stern looks.  
"~Yesss. I am not to bite your father under any circumstancesss.~"  
"~Good. Can my father stroke your scalesss if he ssshould want to?~"  
"~Yesss. That isss fine.~""  
"Sorry. Hades is just a little hungry. He ate before we came down for breakfast, but it seems that wasn’t enough. Is there any way you could ask the elves for a rat?" Elise said with an apologetic smile.  
“Of course. That's no problem," Severus said, coming over to see Hades better. “What’s his name?”  
“Hades. He’s a Horned Serpent, but he’s able to stay this size until I want him to resume growing," Elise said proudly.  
"'useful. Can I feel his scales?"  
“Yes. I asked him and he said that’s fine."  
Severus felt Hades' scales, then conjured another armchair for himself so he could sit closer to his daughter.  
"So, tell me. How have things been at home?" Severus clasped his hands together in his lap.  
“Besides Lucius, everything is pretty good. I do so wish that mama had married you instead of Lucius though. Everything would be so different," Elise said looking down and tracing Hades scales with one hand. He was now spread out across her lap.  
“I know. There are times when I wish for that too, but alas, your mother was already promised to Lucius. How's Draco doing?” Severus said pensively.  
“He’s great. He misses you. I have my two-way mirror that’s connected to his in my bag. You can talk to him if you want," Elise said, perking up.  
"If you’re okay with it. I don’t want to take away from our time together."  
"'no. Don't be silly papa. it’s absolutely fine. We still have loads of time." Looking down at Hades, Elise switched to parsletongue. “~I need to get something from my bag and I don’t want to squasssh you in the process. Would you mind if my father holdsss you for a minute?~"  
"~No. I don't mind.~"  
"Papa, would you mind holding Hades for a minute while I get my other mirror from my bag? I've asked him and he’s fine with it. He's also under strict instructions not to bite you, amongst others."  
“Sure. Maybe I should order his food for him first though."  
"Yes. That would probably be best," Elise said with a laugh.  
“Juniper!” An elf with shoulder length green hair, pale skin, long, light brown ears and bulging, leaf green eyes appeared. “How can Juniper be helpings Master Severus?”  
"Hello, Juniper. Please can you bring us a large rat for Elise’s snake Hades here? Can we also have some pumpkin juice?"  
"Yes, Master Severus. Right away." Juniper snapped her fingers and the requested items appeared on the small table in front of them.  
"~Do not even think about touching that rat yet. I will ask my father to ward apart of the room for you, and then you can eat,~" Elise hissed before Hades had the chance to pounce. He let out the equivalent of a snake chuckle, but did as he was told.  
“Before I go, it's been so nice to see you again, young Mistress Elise," Juniper said, flashing a smile in her direction.  
"'it's great to see you too, Juniper. Say hello to the other elves for me," Elise said, smiling back. With a pop' Juniper was gone.  
"Papa, I was thinking it would be prudent if you put Hades down in the corner and maybe put a few charms up so he can eat and peace and we don’t have to part ways with our breakfast so soon."  
“Good thinking," Severus said with a chuckle, and with a few waves of his wand, he had conjured a few medium sized rocks and put heating charms on them. He then over to the window and positioning them on the floor. He let Hades situate himself before levitating the rat into the enclosure and casting a privacy ward, along with a notice me not charm. Going back over to sit down, he poured out the Pumpkin juice while Elise called Draco on the mirror.  
"Draco Malfoy," she said. Nearly a whole minute had passed before Draco’s face finally appeared.  
"Hi, El. How are you?"  
"I'm good thanks, Dray. How are you?"  
"I'm good. is everything okay?"  
"Yeah. everything’s fine. I have someone here with me who’d like to say hello." Turning the mirror slightly to face her father, Elise grinned when Draco gasped.  
"Sev! How are you? I’ve missed you."  
"Hello Dragon. I’m well thank you. I’ve missed you too, very much." Elise gave the mirror to her father for him and Draco to continue catching up, while she drank her Pumpkin juice. "Alright Dragon. I have to go now. I want to do something with your sister."  
"Okay... When will I see you again?" Draco said sadly.  
"Maybe this Christmas if I can get away from the castle for a couple hours."  
"Awesome. Bye Sev."  
"Take care, Dragon." Handing the mirror back to Elise, she waved to Draco which he returned before she ended the connection.  
Father and daughter spent the rest of their time together talking about what was to come in Potions classes and what Elise and her friends wanted to do for Samhain. They also spent a small amount of time brewing together. Elise helped her father cut, chop and dice ingredients, while he added them to the cauldron and stirred. She asked many questions about each ingredient and why they had to stir a certain amount of times. Looking up at the clock, Severus put a stasis charm on the potion before taking off his gloves. “Time to go I’m afraid, Little one."  
"Already. It feels like I just got here," Elise said with a frown.  
“I know. As the saying goes, time flies by when you’re having fun," Severus said with a small smile.  
Going over to the sink, Elise washed and dried her hands. Going back over to her father she gave him a big hug. “When can I come back?”  
“Maybe during the Christmas break if you and your friends are staying here?” “We are. Okay great. I'll just call Alex on my mirror so he and the others can come and get me." Severus raised an eyebrow. “The twins and Lee don’t know you’re my father yet. I want to wait awhile. I’m pretty certain they won’t react negatively, but you know what I’m like," Elise said, her cheeks going pink.  
"Yes. I do. That's why I find myself cautioning you not to wait too long, or else you’ll work yourself into a frenzy," Severus said with a fond smile.  
While Elise spoke to her older brother on the mirror, Severus went over to the window and took down the wards and undid the charms. Hades slithered back over to Elise’s chair and she picked him up with her free hand. He slid back onto her wrist and she patted his head before putting her cloak back on.  
She pulled her primary mirror out from her pocket and said into the glass, “Alex Malfoy."  
Meanwhile, Alex, Fred, George and Lee were doing another search of the castle, looking for a new place where they could all hang out together. "We've been looking for ages," Alex moaned, leaning against a wall to catch his breath. Ajax came up to him and looked at him with pity.  
"I know," replied Fred. "We'll look a little longer and if nothing comes up, then we'll just have to be in the cort yard.  
Not long after, the four found themselves on the seventh floor corridor.  
They all began to speed walk as they knew that Elise would be telling them all to get her soon.  
"I really want to find a good place to hang out with my friends," Alex thought repeatedly. "I really want to find a good place to hang out with my friends.  
Suddenly, to everyone's shock and amazement, a huge, black stone door appeared in the wall.  
"What the," Fred, George and Lee said at the same time.  
"I know right," Alex replied before tentatively opening the door. The sight that met all of their eyes was stunning and unbelievable. Comfy sofas and a fireplace were on one side of the big room that had appeared. There was a long table, piled high with food and drinks. An empty space took up about half of the room.  
They all ran in, flopping down on the sofas and eating the food. Ajax was running around madly, only pausing to roll all over the floor happily, making everyone else laugh. They all began to play chase the crazy dog, which Lee named. They soon became out of breath as they had been chasing Ajax round the room for about ten minutes.  
Catching their breaths, they collapsed onto the sofas with some butter beer and some chocolate frogs and talked for awhile before leaving to spend some time in the cort yard.  
"I'm so excited to tell Elise about this," Fred grinned.  
"Same," Lee replied. "That place was the best."  
"I know. It was really weird though. I was thinking about finding a place to hang out and that door just appeared out of nowhere," Alex said.  
"That is weird," said George.  
"Maybe that room reacts to your thoughts." Suggested Fred.  
"Yeah. Maybe if you told it to become something, it would," Lee continued.  
"Yeah. I thought that. We should all try and make it turn to something else," Alex said.  
The others exchanged nods of agreement before Alex's mirror began to heat up in his bag. After retrieving it, he signaled to the others that Elise was calling.  
"Hey El," he grinned. How did it go?"  
"Good," She replied, grinning back.  
"That's good. Do you want us to come and get you now? We have something really exciting to tell you."  
"Yes. Meet me outside my dad's office, and I can't wait to hear about it," Elise said with a smile and a wave before her face disappeared from the mirror.  
Alex put it back into his bag and told the others that they were going to meet Elise and show her the mysterious room. As they walked quickly to Snape's office, Elise came into view.  
"Hey El," Alex said, giving his sister a quick hug. "We have so much to tell you."  
"What have you guys been up too?" she laughed as they made their way up to the room. After explaining what happened, Elise was really excited. "That sounds perfect," she exclaimed and they ran even faster towards the room.  
"I want to find a place to hang out with my friends. I want to find a place to hang out with my friends," Alex thought again. Just as expected, the big, stone door materialised and they all ran through, Ajax being the happiest.  
"This is amazing!” Elise gasped, scanning the room.  
"I know right," Alex said before running over to the food and biting into a chocolate frog.  
"Shall we play a game?" Lee suggested.  
"Good idea," replied George.  
"What kind of game?” Fred added.  
"Well, my mum told me about this muggle game that she used to play. It's called truth or dare. It's pretty self explanatory really. You just go round and ask each other truth or dare. If they pick truth, you ask them a question, and if they pick dare, you have to tell them to do something. If they don't want to do what they have been asked or told, then they have to do a forfeit of the group's choice,," Lee explained.  
"That sounds really cool." Elise replied, going over to the food as well.  
After they'd had some of the food, they all sat in a circle with Ajax in the middle. Hades was sleeping peacefully on Elise's wrist.  
"I'll go first," Lee said. "Alex, truth or dare.  
"Dare," Alex quickly replied with a smirk.  
"Okay. I dare you to... make five animal noises in front of everyone."  
"Easy." Alex took a moment to think.  
"I already know what he's gonna do," Elise chuckled under her breath. She was correct. A loud, but surprisingly soothing shriek came from Alex. He had learned the language of Thestrals from a very young age and was almost perfect at it. He could understand the distinctive noises and would be able to communicate with them pretty well.  
"Is that a Thestral?” Fred asked, looking intrigued.  
"Yes. They are my favourite animal. I can kind of communicate with them," Alex replied, looking at his hands shyly.  
"That's really cool. I seem to remember you getting excited about the Thestrals that pull the carriages," Said Fred.  
"I heard that Hogwarts has some. We should go and see them at some time," Lee said.  
"We were thinking of asking Hagrid tomorrow," Elise shared.  
"That will be fun," Lee responded.  
The next four animal impressions that Alex did were a wolf, which he did perfectly, a dog, a cat and a pig. The last one made everyone laugh a lot.  
Sobering up, Alex turned to George. "Truth or dare?"  
"Dare."  
"Okay. I dare you to... Let Fred tickle you for 30 seconds."  
"Easy. I'm not even ticklish."  
"Lies!” Laughed Fred before pouncing on his brother. The others watched in fits of laughter as George struggled in Fred's grip. After rolling on the floor for much longer than thirty seconds, the twins came back to the circle.  
"I'll get you back, Fred," George laughed. "Truth or dare?"  
"Dare. Give it your best."  
"Well," A smirk crept onto George's face. "You have to sing every word you say for the rest of the game."  
"Noooo," Complained Fred.  
"Oh Freddy," Elise laughed  
"Truth or dare Elise?” Fred sang.  
"Dare," Elise sang back for the fun of it.  
"Lift up the smallest person in the room and carry them for as long as you can."  
Alex shot a glare in Fred's direction. "Don't get me involved!” He wined.  
"Come on then, Alex," Elise said, standing up.  
"Okay fine," Alex huffed, going over to Elise and allowing her to lift him up onto her hip. "This reminds me of when I was little," he smiled, although it didn't quite reach his eyes.  
"I was just thinking that too," Elise replied, reminiscing at the thought of the memory, even if those memories held a deeper meaning. "You're a lot heavier now though,"  
"Oh. Hehe."  
Reaching one of the sofas, Elise let go of Alex, so he landed with a soft thump.  
"Ouch. What did you do that for," He laughed into one of the cushions.  
"Oh well," Elise replied, going back to the others with a smirk on her face. Alex rolled to the other side of the sofa and looked at Lee.  
"Lee. Truth or dare?"  
"After all of these dares, I'm gonna go for truth."  
"The safe one. Okay. What would you like to do as a job when you're older?”  
"Good question. Probably something to do with quidditch or sports of some kind."  
"Nice," Alex replied.  
After many more rounds, the group began to get a little tired, and after having some hot chocolate, they left to go to dinner.  
"I wish we could have dinner here," Fred said sadly.  
"I know. I feel like Dumbledore or someone will notice though," Elise said.  
After dinner, the friends decided to go to their common rooms as they were a little tired from the day's events. Saying bye to their friends, Alex and Elise made their way to the dungeons.  
"Today was really fun," Alex said tiredly.  
"Yeah. Are you okay after earlier. I can see that some memories never fade," Elise said with concern.  
"Yeah. It's like small things can just bring everything back. They said at St Mungo's that I would get triggers from the smallest of things. I just didn't think that the triggers would be that small," Alex said, tears pricking the corners of his eyes.  
"It's okay Alex." Elise stopped and gave him a hug. "I won't let anything hurt you."  
"Thanks El." Alex said, squeezing his sister tightly before they continued to walk back to their rooms.  
Alex went into his room and called his mum and Blaise on the mirror, taking care not to mention the incident. He fell asleep almost instantly to his relief, and had a peaceful, dreamless sleep.  
In her room, Elise got into bed and burrowed under the covers, before taking her primary mirror out from under her pillow. She’d put it back there once returning to her room.  
"Narcissa Malfoy."  
Narcissa’s face appeared in the glass with a smile.  
“Hi my love. How are you and how’s your day been?"  
"I'm good mama, and my day’s been even better. I spent the morning with papa. It was a lot of fun. Then I spent the rest of my day with my friends."  
"That's great, dear. Well, I’ll let you go so you can talk to Dragon before you go to sleep."  
"No need. I spoke to him earlier while with papa. Just give him a hug for me please. I am going to go to sleep now though as i’m quite tired."  
"Alright, love. speak to you tomorrow."  
"Night mama. Love you."  
"Night my dear. Love you too." Narcissa's face then vanished.  
Tucking her mirror back under her pillow, Elise checked on Hades, then rolled onto her side and fell asleep.  
The next day, Elise, Alex, the twins and Lee woke up bright and early to see the Thestrals. After breakfast, they all made their wan to Hagrid's hut', which was just on the edge of the forest. Ajax loved the warm, autumn air. However, Elise had opted to leave Hades in her dorm room, as the environment might not be good for him.  
The sun was shining brightly over the grounds and the forest, although they could all tell that it was getting slightly colder. Reaching Hagrid's hut, Alex knocked on the door. There was a loud bang, followed by lots of barking, which made Ajax bark equally as loud.  
"Come on, Fang. Stay back," The booming voice of Hagrid said as he made his way to the door. He swung the door open and at the same time, Ajax and fang bounded to each other and started to play.  
"They've taken a liking to each other," Fred laughed, watching the dogs roll around.  
"What's yer dog's name," Hagrid asked Alex.  
"He's called Ajax. I'm guessing that your dog's called fang?"  
"Yep. Now, is there anything I can help with? I don think I'v met you lot before. The students all introduced themselves and explained why they were there. "Of course yeh can see the Thestrals. I never expected that question to come from yeh, but of course."  
Alex jumped up and down with joy grabbed hold of Ajax's leash, trying to get him away from fang. "Come on, Ajax," he said sternly and the dog listened, and lead the way to the forest.  
As they ventured further and further into the forest, the darkness began to thicken, the shapes and angles of the trees becoming slightly more ominous. It wasn't too long before the sun wasn't even visible through the canopy of leaves. The five students all drew their wands and said, "Lumos." Thankfully, they had practiced the simple spell so they got it right. Hagrid also had his crossbow ready.  
"Right," said Hagrid, coming to a halt. "I'm gonna call them now, so I don want any of you to make any noise, as it might scare them." He shrieked loudly. Alex, hesitated slightly before shrieking too, startling Hagrid slightly. Not even a minute later, a black shape became visible. The six of them all watched in amazement as about seven or eight Thestrals came to stand in front of them.  
Alex didn't even wait for them to come any closer. He ran through the darkness towards them, not being able to contain his excitement.  
;This one here that Alex is with is called Tenebros. He's my favourite one," Hagrid said, letting the others come closer. Tenebros loved the attention. He let each of them stroke him.  
"Do any of yeh wanna ride him?" Hagrid asked.  
"I definitely do," said Elise. "And I know for a fact that Alex does."  
The twins and Lee wanted to ride him too, but they all got on a Thestral each.  
They all suddenly shot up to the sky, bursting through the trees at top speed. The wind rushed through everyone's ears as they flew through the sky. As Fred, George, Elise and Lee couldn't see them, it felt very strange as they could feel the Thestral, but they couldn't see them. If they looked down, they would get a fright.  
After landing, the five students hugged their Thestrals and said bye to Hagrid. Ajax was still playing with fang, so they had to try and get Ajax away so they could take him back inside. He wined as he had to leave his new friend behind, but they promised that they would come back soon.  
The rest of the day was not very eventful. They spent their time in the room of requirement, talking and laughing before dinner and going to bed.  
Just before entering their common room, the twins turned back, as they had forgotten to write to their parents. They ran to the owlery with a quill and some parchment before writing their letter.  
To mum and dad.  
Hi mum. Hi dad, and hi to the others if they are there. How are you all doing?  
Our lessons have been good so far. We are really enjoying charms. We thought we should let you know that we have made friends with two Slytherins. They're not as bad as you might think. You should meet them sometime. We hope you are doing well and we hope to hear from you soon.  
Fred and George.  
After finishing writing their letter, they folded it and tied it to a barn owl's leg. It pecked them affectionately before flying out the window.  
"I hope they don't think badly of us," George said sadly to his brother.  
"I know, but what can they do. We aren't just going to stop being friends with them just because they're Slytherins, are we?" Replied Fred.  
"Of course not." The twins felt like they had a weight lifted off their shoulders. They were slightly afraid at what their parents, brothers and sister would say, but they tried to not let it affect them negatively. They then went back to their common room went to bed, prepared for the week ahead.


	8. Chapter 5

The week leading up to Samhain was one full of anticepation for our favorite quintette. They had to talk about it in hushed tones as the only member of staff that knew about it was professor Snape. And more importantly, if Dumbledore got even a whiff of their plans he’d try to ruin it all. He was completely against anyone wanting to celebrate Samhain, Yule or anything that goes back years and had anything to do with tradition in old families.  
It was Thursday afternoon just after their last class which had been Transfiguration. Fred and George were on their way back to Gryffindor tower to drop off their bags before meeting up with their friends to do homework together.  
“Dragon snap,” fred said to the fat lady.  
She smiled at them and the portrait hole swung open to let them into the common room. Walking in they went straight towards the stairs that lead up to the boys dormitories. As they reached the bottom step their older brother Percy called out to them.  
“Fred, George, wait. You have a letter from home,” Percy said reaching them.  
“Oh thanks Perce,” George said taking the letter from Percy with a small smile.  
They continued making their way up to their room after that. Putting their bags down next to their desk, they sat on Fred’s bed together to read the letter. Fred opened the envelope to find two rolls of parchment. Taking the sheet in front out he handed it to George to read. It was the letter from their parents.  
Dear Fred and George,  
We’re so glad to hear you got into Gryffindor. If i’m honest with you I wasn’t certain that was where you’d end up. I thought the hat might go with Slytherin which despite what you might think we wouldn’t mind at all. I actually had a friend in Slytherin when I was at hogwarts myself. Unfortunately we ended up on different sides of the war and he was killed. The only Slytherins I have a problem with are those who are DeathEaters, not including one man. But you’ll probably meet him soon enough if not in the way you expected. So about the two Slytherin friends you’ve made, we’re very proud of both of you for that. It’s great to hear that you’re branching out of your house to make friends. We’re also so happy to hear that you’re enjoying your classes. Professor Flitwick is a brilliant teacher. Keep up the good work. Take care of each other and write soon.  
Love mum and dad.  
Looking up from the letter George shared a surprised look with his twin.  
“Mum was friends with a Slytherin?” Fred said eyes wide.  
“I know. Never would’ve guessed. Think we should ask who it was?” George said eyes equally wide.  
“For sure. It’s a relief she isn’t going to try and stop us being friends with El and Al though,” Fred said with a relieved smile.  
“Yeah, it definitely makes things a whole lot easier.”  
“I’ll read the letter from Ron and Ginny. I’m not expecting this one to be even half as accepting,” Fred said with a grimace.  
“Neither am I,” George agreed.  
Fred took the other letter out of the envelope and began to read.  
Fred and George,  
How could you be friends with Slytherins! They’re all evil you know that. I hope you two know what you’re doing. What class is the best there? Ginny reckons it’s Potions. I reckon it’s Defense. Anyway, i’m hungry now so I’m going to ask mum for a snack. Bye.  
Ron.  
Hi guys,  
Ignore Ron, he’s being a prat. I don’t think your friends are evil. Are you sure you can trust them though? Please be careful. What are the professors like? Write soon.  
Ginny.  
Scrunching the letter up in one fist Fred looked to George who looked equally miffed.  
“Oh Ron...” George said with a heavy sigh.  
“I know he’s only nine but i have to agree with Ginny’s assessment,” Fred said scowling.  
“He’ll understand better once he meets them. We’ll just ignore that part of the letter in our reply,” George said softly.  
‘yeah that’s probably the best way to handle it. We can reply over the weekend. We better get to the ROR now before the others start to worry,” Fred said standing up and going over to the small bin by the door.  
He dropped the letter into it and there was a swishing sound which resulted in the balled up letter disappearing. Going back over to their bags they took out the supplies they’d need for Homework and left the room, Fred shutting the door a little forcefully.  
In the ROR______  
“Hey guys what took you so long?” Elise asked with a raised eyebrow from her place in an armchair on the far side of the room.  
“We wrote to our family last week and we received the replies today. The letter from our brother and sister weren’t quite what we were expecting,” George said sitting down at a table next to Alex.  
“Oh, what did they say?” Lee asked joining the conversation.  
“Well to sum it up Ronald was being prejudice and saying El and Al are evil blah blah. And Ginny while not fully agreeing with him asked if we were sure we could trust you.” Fred said glaring down at his Transfiguration textbook. He had taken the last seat at the table next to Lee.  
“They’ll understand better in a few years once they meet us.” Elise said with a strained smile.  
“Yeah that’s what George said. It’s just annoying because I know they didn’t get those views from mum and dad. Mum actually told us that she was friend with a Slytherin while at Hogwarts,” Fred said now flipping through the pages of the textbook trying to find the relevant one for his homework assignment.  
“Oh that’s cool. Are you going to ask her who it was?” Lee asked.  
“Yeah. George also suggested that we should ignore Ronald’s little rant and answered the rest of the letter. Besides the part about Al and El the rest of Ginny’s part was pretty positive. She wants to know about Hogwarts.”  
‘i think that’s probably the best idea. Anyway no more talking from you,” Elise said wiggling a finger at Fred. “You’ve got an essay to get on with,” she finished with a smirk.  
Fred stuck his tongue out at her. “Just because you’ve already done yours.”  
“It pays to be studious sometimes,” she said her smirk getting wider.  
A few seconds later the only sounds that could be heard were the scratching of quills against parchment, Elise turning the pages in the charms book she was studying from and whispers when someone had a question. A minute later piano music started playing softly.  
“Who did that?” George said looking around confused.  
“I did. I thought some soft music would make it a more calming environment. Plus it always helps me to concentrate.” Alex said quietly.  
“Oh cool. It’s a nice touch.” Lee said smiling.  
Awhile later Elise mumbled “tempus” and the time flashed in front of her at eye level.  
“Guys, I think we should stop for today. Dinner’s in 10 minutes.” Elise said louder.  
There was some shuffling as everyone sitting at the table closed textbooks and piled them in the middle of the table.  
“We might as well leave everything here and come back after dinner. It saves time.” Lee said standing up and stretching.  
They all agreed and left the room.  
‘shit, I actually need to go back to our common room.” Alex said stopping suddenly and grabbing his sister’s wrist.  
“What is it?” Elise said trying to search her brother’s face for the answer.  
“I need to feed Ajax. Let Gemma know I’ll be a little late?” He said letting go of his sister’s wrist.  
“Of course. Alright see you in a bit. Boys lets go.”  
Elise, Lee and the twins went to the great hall, sticking close together and Alex made his way to the Slytherin common room as fast as he could. He knew he wasn’t supposed to be alone so he was rushing in the hopes that he didn’t get caught.  
Luckily nobody was in the common room when he got there. He was able to rush up to his room and feed Ajax without any fanfare. He rushed back down through the common room and up to the great hall. He stopped to catch his breath out sides the doors and was surprised to see Elise waiting for him.  
“I didn’t want you to get an earful from Flint so I decided to stay out here and wait for you so we could enter together and nobody would ever have to know.” Elise said with a smile at her brother’s questioning glance.  
“Thanks El, you’re a life saver,” Alex said with a grin.  
“Drama queen.” Elise responded with a teasing grin before they entered the great hall.  
______  
After dinner the group of first years made their way back up to the Room of requirement and spent some time reading, adding finishing touches to essays or talking. A half hour before curfew they said their goodbyes for the day and made their way to their common rooms.  
“See you in the morning sis.” Alex said with a smile to his sister.  
“Night Al.” Elise replied smiling back.  
They waved as they separated to go to their individual rooms.  
on Friday Elise found it the hardest to concentrate on classes. She was so distracted in Herbology that she nearly got tangled up in the Devil’s Snare they were working on. Luckily Alex had grabbed her wrist just in time. She blinked and Alex raised an eyebrow.  
“What were you thinking about?”  
“Tomorrow,” Elise mumbled her cheeks going slightly pink.  
Alex chuckled and they continued with their task.  
After classes that day Alex, Elise and Lee went exploring around the dungeons and happened to find the kitchens. They only got in because a hous elf was coming out as they approached.  
“Hello young Sirs and Miss, would yous like to come into the kitchens?” The elf said standing in the doorway.  
“Yes please. What’s your name?” Lee responded with a friendly smile down at the elf.  
“I’s is called Jennie,” Jennie said moving aside to let them in.  
Jennie had pale skin, shoulder length straight black hair and bulging leaf green eyes. She was wearing a tea cozy with the Hogwarts crest on it.  
“Jennie has to go now but the other house elves will help yous with anything you want. To come back again all yous has to do is tickle the pear in the portrait of the bowl of fruit.” Jennie said with a wave before disappearing with a small pop.  
The group of friends had just taken seats around the large table near the entrance when three new elves appeared.  
“Juniper!” Elise said with a huge grin.  
“Mistress Elise. Would you and your friends like some snacks?” Severus’s elf said with an equally huge grin.  
“Yes please. Just bring what’s already made. I’m sure we’ll love whatever it is.” Elise responded.  
Juniper disappeared to get the snacks and the other elves introduced themselves.  
“Hello, my names is Bluebell. What would young Sirs and Miss like to drink?” Asked an elf with pale skin, shoulder length copper curls and bulging sky blue eyes.  
“Can we have some pumpkin juice and water please,” Lee said.  
“Anything else?”  
Everyone shook their heads. Bluebell disappeared and came back a minute later with a jug of pumpkin jiuce and another containing water. She put them down in the middle of the table with a smile before disappearing again.  
‘and I’s is called Loci. I’s is professor Flitsys personal elf,” said an elf with light brown skin, bulging yellow eyes and shoulder length aurburn hair. “Will yous be staying for dinner?”  
“Not today. We might come back another day though.” Lee said with an apologetic smile.  
“That’s fine. Loci will be here when yous come back.” Loci said with one last smile before disappearing.  
Juniper had come back now and was floating a platter of different pastries, cupcakes, doughnuts and other tasty treats.  
‘wow, this looks great Juniper. Thank you. Would you mind putting the leftovers into four separate boxes for us before we leave?” Elise said as Juniper lowered the platter to the table.  
“Juniper can be doings that for yous.” She said with a warm smile before leaving them to enjoy the snacks.  
“El how do you know Juniper?” Lee asked taking a pastry.  
“Oh she works at the manor sometimes. Not so much anymore but she did a lot when I was little.” Elise said before biting into a chocolate cupcake.  
Elise’s expression stayed neutral so Lee couldn’t tell if she was telling him the full truth or not. He let it go however. He knew that if there was more she would tell them in time.  
“Where are the twins?” Alex asked pouring himself a glass of water.  
“Writing to their family. They told me in Transfiguration earlier that they were going to write their letters after classes.” Lee said taking two doughnuts. They were miniature ones with chocolate sprinkles on them. Some had plain filling and some of them had vanilla cream inside.  
___________  
With Fred and George___________  
Fred and George were sitting side by side at their desk in their dormitory and were discussing what to say in their letters to their family.  
“How about you write the one to mum and dad and I’ll write the one to Ron and Ginny.” George suggested.  
“Alright sure.” Fred said taking a roll of parchment from the stack at the back of the desk. Getting a quill from his school bag he dipped it into the inkpot next to the stack of parchment and began writing the letter. Meanwhile George did the same and began writing the letter to their younger siblings.  
Dear mum and dad,  
Mum we were really surprised to hear that you had a friend in Slytherin. And you were right, the hat wanted to put both of us in Slytherin but we asked it not to because we thought you wouldn’t approve... Speaking of friends in Slytherin, we were wondering who your friend in Slytherin was? He could’ve been related to our friends or any we make in the future. You’re probably wondering about their names. They’re Elise Black and Alex Malfoy. Yes mum I did say Malfoy. I promise you Alex is nothing like his father. He’s so kind and doesn’t hold any of the blood purest views. You’ll really like him if you give him a chance. Our other friend from Slytherin is called Elise Black. She’s Narcissa’s daughter and has her mother’s maiden name. She won’t talk about her father yet. She seems to be under the impression that we’ll judge her or her mother as Narcissa obviously had an affair with someone. We’ve assured her that we wouldn’t and so we’re giving her the chance to tell us in her own time. We also have a friend in Ravenclaw called Lee Jordan. Dad we hope you’re not working too hard. Dad you’d like Lee. His mum grew up in the muggle world and he’ll be able to tell you about muggle appliances and stuff as Lee’s mum tells him a lot. Oh we’ve decided we want to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas this year. First year and all that. But also all our friends are staying. Hope you don’t mind. Hope alls well at home.  
Love Fred and George.  
“Hey have you finished writing?” Fred asked his brother as he blew on the parchment in an attempt to dry it a little so it didn’t smudge when he rolled it up.  
“Yeah, just reading over it now.” George muttered.  
Dear Ron and Ginny,  
To start with, yes Gin we’re certain our friends can be trusted. Remember guys that Slytherin doesn’t mean evil. It’s not a house that makes someone a bad person. It’s what they do in life. Fred and I almost got into Slytherin and we’re not evil now are we? You’ll meet Alex and Elise soon enough and see that they’re not evil for yourselves. Now about Hogwarts. The professors are great. Professor Snape can be a little strict but he has to be. He teaches potions and it can be very dangerous if you don’t follow instructions or mess about. The best class is Charms followed closely by potions. But if you ask Fred he’d probably say Charms followed by Transfiguration. Anyway we have to go now. Be good for mum and dad. And I want to hear that you’re working hard when we come back at the end of the year. We’re staying here for Christmas. Say hi to Bill and Charlie for us.  
George, the more awesome twin.  
“Alright let’s go and send these off. You might as well put them in the same envelope,” George said handing the letter to his brother and standing up.  
Fred slipped the letter into the envelope with the one he’d written and stood as well. They left their room and chatted about the days classes as they made their way to the owlery. When there they found a barn owl who offered up their leg for Fred to tie the envelope to.  
“Take this to Molly Weasley.” Fred said to the owl with a smile. The owl hooted it’s understanding before flying off.  
“We should probably go and find the others.” George said looking around.  
“We don’t know where they are though.”  
“That’s not a problem.” Said a feminine voice.  
“Elise?” Fred said spinning round to face the doorway of the owlery.  
“Unless you’ve made friends with someone else that sounds just like me?” Elise said with a raised eyebrow.  
“You know we haven’t.” George said with a laugh.  
“Just checking. Anyway I came to get you two as we knew you wouldn’t know where we were. We found the kitchens and have been having snacks and meeting some of the house elves.” Elise said as they left the owlery.  
“Cool. Did you save any treats for us?” Fred said his pace quickening.  
“Yes we did. Each of us has a box. Well I asked Juniper to make one for the two of you. I thought it would be easier that way as you share a room,” Elise said amused.  
“That’s fine,” George assured her with a smile.  
They reached the portrait of the fruit bowl and Elise tickled the pear. The twins were wide-eyed when they saw the entrance.  
“This is awesome,” Fred breathed.  
Fred and George met the house elves that the others had met and then they left with their boxes.  
“Make sure yous comes back soon,” Juniper said.  
“We will.” Lee and Elise called back.  
____________

Saturday samhain 1989, Hogwarts, Scotland.  
The quintette met up in the Room of requirement at around lunch time. All dressed in their best clothes.  
“So are we gonna just chill till later?” Alex asked playing with Ajax.  
“Well we’re going to go to lunch in the Great Hall so Dumbledore doesn’t suspect anything.but after that yeah pretty much.” Elise said stroking Hades’s scales.  
Lee and the twins were sitting on a couch and whispering about something.  
~Do you want to ssstay when we ssstart the celebrations?~ Elise hissed to Hades.  
~What will you be doing?~  
~Lighting a few candles and remembering our loved ones who have passsed on.~  
~I will ssstay. I have never ssseen one of thessse rituals.~  
~Alright. Would you like me to leave you here while we go and have lunch? I can call Juniper to bring you a few mice. That’s my fathersss elf who fed you lassst weekend.~  
~Yes pleassse.~  
Switching back to English Elise said to her friends.  
“Guys lunch will be starting any minute now. I’m just going to call Juniper and ask her to bring Hades his food before we go.”  
“Alright. Think she’ll get some food for Ajax too?” Alex asked sitting up and dusting himself off.  
“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. Juniper!”  
With a small pop Juniper appeared.  
‘what can Juniper be doings for Mistress Elise?”  
“Hi Juniper. We’re about to go down for lunch, could you get Hades some mice please? And would you mind getting some dog food for Alex’s dog as well?”  
“Juniper can be gettings food for both animals. Would yous like me to put them in separate bubbles that protect the surrounding areas?”  
“Yes please that would be really helpful.”  
~Alright I’m going to leave you on my chair. Juniper is going to lift you up and do what ssshe did lassst weekend but without the charm that makes you invisssible. I’ll be back sssoon.~ Elise hissed softly to Hades before getting up and putting him down gently where she had been sitting.  
______  
Later that day they were getting ready to perform the ritual in the Room of requirement.  
“”So just to double check how many candles are we going to need?” Elise asked the room at large.  
“Two for our uncles,” Said Fred.  
“One for my aunt Leanne,” Lee said.  
“And one for my cousin Regulus.” Elise said.  
“So four candles.” Alex concluded.  
“Alright I’ll call Juniper as she’ll be able to get the candles along with the heat proof container we’ll need.”  
“Are we going to do the ritual before we eat?” Alex asked.  
“It’s up to you guys. I don’t mind.” Elise said.  
They agreed they’d do it first and then eat so Elise called Juniper.  
“Hi again Juniper. Sorry to bother you but we’re ready to do the ritual. Could you please get us five black candles and a heat proof dish?”  
“Yous are never bothering Juniper Mistress Elise. And yes I can be doings that for yous. Your special meal is nearly ready as well so once you finish the ritual just call Juniper and I’s be bringings yous’s food.” Juniper said before snapping her fingers.  
The requested items appeared in the middle of the dining table that had just appeared on the far side of the room.  
‘thank you very much juniper. We’ll be sure to call you when we’re ready to eat.”  
The friends took seats around the table and Elise did the spell to light the middle candle.   
“Alright repeat after me if you don’t already know the words,” Elise said softly.  
Juniper snapped her fingers one more time to turn out the lights before disapparating.  
“"We welcome our departed loved ones into this home and honour your presence amongst us".” “Now we go around and mention someone we’ve lost and as you do so light one of the candles.”  
“My aunt Leanne was a great woman. She always took me to really fun places and even took me to a few places in the muggle world. One of my best memories of her was baking a cake on one of mum’s birthdays. I was devistated when she passed away two years ago from kidney failure,” Lee said quietly while pointing his wand at the nearest candle to him and whispering “Lumos to light it up.  
“Mum doesn’t really talk about our uncles much.” Fred started.  
“All we really know is that they were twins like us. Their names were Fabian and Gideon. Apparently we look like them too. She also says they mastered twin speak too and were as close as Fred and I are. They were killed in the war. We never got to meet them but they’re still our heroes.” George finished.  
Together they lit the candles in front of them.  
“Mama talks about cousin Regulus whenever she can. Like the twins I never got to meet him as he died in the war. But mama always tells me about how close they were as kids. That they were a lot like Alex and I. She tells me that even if he made some bad decisions in his later life he never abandoned those he cared about. That they kept in touch till the very end. I’m sorry I never got to meet you cousin. You’ll never be forgotten.,” Elise finished in a whisper before lighting the last candle.  
Silence fell over the friends.  
“Group hug.” Alex said finally.  
They got up and all came together in a big group hug. When they pulled back there were a few misty eyes.  
Elise called Juniper back and she brought there dinner. The feast consisted of meats, homemade bread, rice, a herby sauce and a few cheeses. There was also cooked apple slices which nearly everyone enjoyed. “Juniper will you be able to get the boys back to their common rooms when we’re ready to leave?”  
“Yes.”  
“Great. We’ll be ready to go in about an hour.” Elise said.  
They spent that hour eating and talking about their families. Elise still wasn’t mentioning the identity of her father and Lucius wasn’t mentioned by silent agreement of all.  
___________

On Sunday the quintette slept in till nearly midday. They passed each other in the great hall during lunch and waved on the way to their tables. After eating they met up outside the hall.  
“So what are we doing for the rest of the day?” Lee asked brightly.  
“Have you all finished your homework?” Elise asked seriously.  
Everyone nodded or in Alex’s cases groaned but said he had.  
“Alright how about we go exploring then?”  
“Yeah we could try to find Peeves. He’s the resident poltergeist,” Fred said excitedly.  
“Yeah our older brother Bill told us about him.” George agreed.  
“How many siblings do you two have?” Lee asked confused.  
“Five, three older brothers, a little brother and a little sister. But that’s not important right now. Who’s up for finding Peeves?” Fred said impatiently.  
“I’m in.” Alex agreed.  
“Yeah I’m in why not,” Elise said rubbing her hip where Hades was resting.  
With Fred and George in the lead the group went on a treck around the castle.  
They’d been walking around for awhile and were starting to become disheartened when they ran into a portly ghost.  
“Hello there. First year students?” Said the ghost.  
‘hi, yes we are. What’s your name?” Alex said kindly.  
‘i’m the Friar, Hufflepuff’s ghost. What are your names?” The Friar said jovially.  
“I’m Alex Malfoy, this is my sister Elise Black, and my friends Lee Jordan and Fred and George Weasley.” Alex said pointing to each person.  
“Well it’s very nice to meet you all. Can I help you with anything?”  
“Yes actually, we’re looking for Peeves. We’d er, like to say hello,” George said.  
‘you see one of our brothers told us about him,” Fred said with a polite smile.  
“I see. I believe he’s somewhere on the second floor. Possibly near Miss Warren’s bathroom,” The Friar said with a disapproving frown.  
“Thank you Friar. It was nice meeting you,” Alex said waving as they turned around.  
‘you too kids.” The Friar said happily.  
Minutes later they heard someone singing a crude song.  
“Excuse me? Peeves?” George called up to the poltergeist who was floating in midair.  
“Ooo, ikle firsties looking for master Peevesy? What could ikle firsties possibly want,” Peeves said looking down at them with a grin.  
“We just wanted to say hi. My brother Bill told me about you. He said you like pranks.” Fred said grinning back.  
“Oh yes, master Peevesy does like pranks a lot. Do you have any ideas?”  
“Not today sadly. We’ve got to go. Curfew is soon. But we’ll come and find you again when we have an idea,” Elise cut in.  
‘how do you know that? You didn’t even take your wand out,” Lee said puzzled.  
“Hades,” she said lowly.  
‘alright. When you want to find me again just whistle as loud as you can and I’ll come.” Peeves said before saluting the group and whizzing off.


	9. Chapter 6

December 1989, Hogwarts Castle. Scottish Highlands.

Everyone’s spirits were gradually rising as Christmas drew nearer. It wasn’t long before frost and snow covered the grounds of hogwarts and the mountains beyond. Getting up for classes became even more of a struggle as the castle was especially cold in the mornings, particularly for the Slytherins down in the dungeons. In Potions classes they were now learning how to brew Pepper up potion. Professor Snape had put them into pairs and said that they would have to stay in these pairs till February when they would be able to choose their partner for the rest of the year. In their first class on the potion they learned all about the the different ingredients. Why things had to be put in at precise times, why certain ingredients mixed so well together. And what could happen if it was brewed incorrectly. They wouldn’t be starting on any brewing till next class and once Professor Snape was satisfied everyone understood everything there was to know about the potion and how to brew it safely. At the end of this class, the professor told them to decide now who would do the preparing of the ingredients and who would add it all to the cauldron and do the actual brewing in the next class. He said it would work much more smoothly if they each were working on a separate part of the process. There would be less room for any accidents.  
The end of the week had come and it was time to brew the potion. Everybody was secretly excited but trying not to show it.  
“I hope you have all had a good day so far and ate a good lunch because this afternoon will not be easy. And I hope everyone is getting along in their pairs now. If I see any sign of arguing or disruption to another pair both people in the pair will be in detention for the next week and get a T for today’s class,” Professor Snape said fixing each student in turn with a stern glance. “Another thing to keep in mind while brewing is that whichever pairs get an E or O on today’s assignment will be able to keep their potion and use it when the need arrises. Madam Pomfrey will also be informed about this.”  
Lee and Elise who had been paired together shared an excited grin. They both enjoyed Potions a lot and were determined to be one of the pairs that got an E or an O.  
“Every person from each pair that is going to be preparing ingredients may go and get them from the store cupboard now. I don’t want to hear any bickering. Single file please.”  
The students did as they were told and Lee joint the line leading into the store cupboard.  
“Hey Al, who are you working with? You never did tell us. I know he’s in my house but that’s it,” Lee said with a quizzical look at his friend.  
“Rodger Davies. I thought you might know him,” Alex said slightly surprised.  
“I have my own room in the tower. And I don’t really talk to many people in my year,” Lee said with a shrug.  
“Fair enough. Well he seems nice enough,” Anyway I better go.” Alex said with a small smile before side stepping round Lee and out of the store cupboard.  
Lee found the ingredients he needed and left the cupboard. Setting them down on their work table he saw that Elise had set up the cauldron and lit the fire. They spoke in hushed tones while Lee prepared the ingredients and Elise read over the instructions once again from her textbook. Putting her book away she accepted the first ingredient and dropped it into the potion and began to stir. Almost an hour later, professor Snape started walking around the room to check on how students were doing with the brewing. He was pleased that he hadn’t had to give out any detentions yet.  
“Good work Mr Malfoy, Mr Davies. Nearly there,” the professor said before moving onto the next pair. A couple minutes later he came to Lee and Elise’s table and a barely noticeable smile played over his lips.  
‘very good Miss Black, Mr Jordan. This looks promising indeed,” Professor Snape said peering into their cauldron.  
“Thank you Sir,” they said together before sharing another grin.  
10 minutes later professor Snape was calling for silence and Elise was ladling their potion into two vials.  
“Now I would like one of you from each pair to bring your vials up to the front for inspection and grading. This will only take a few minutes so you can stay and finish cleaning up while I do it,” Professor Snape said sitting behind his desk and taking his wand out along with a tool that not many had seen before. It was a tool that could test the potency of a potion by turning a certain color. When the students brought up the vials, professor Snape would write their names on them first before testing one of each. If the rod turned a dark purple when dipped into the vial it signaled that the potion was passable but not good enough for consumption. If the rod turned black then the potion was spoilt. And it it turned a light purple then the potion was good enough for consumption and very potent. After another 10 minutes professor Snape called for silence once again.  
“I would like the following people to come up and collect their potions. Mr Jordan, Mr Malfoy, Mr Davies, Miss Black, Mr Emris, Miss Blackthorn, Miss Harper and Mr O’Connell.”  
Alex and Rodger Davies being closest to the professor’s desk were first up.  
‘well done boys. You got an E. This is a very well made potion especially for your first time,” the professor said handing them their vials.  
Each boy smile politely at the professor and then smiled widely at each other before going back to their seats. Lizzie Blackthorn and Eli O’Connell went up next.  
“Well done Miss Blackthorn and Mr O’Connell. You got an O on this potion. You should be very proud of yourselves.”  
Lizzie smiled shyly and Eli thanked the professor quietly. Caitlin Harper and James Emris then went up.  
“Well done Miss Harper, Mr Emris. Your attentiveness in this class has payed off. You got an E.”  
“Thank you professor.” Eli said with a small smile.  
Caitlin echoed her partner before they went back to their table.  
Elise and Lee were the last to go up.  
“I’m sure it will come to no surprise to either of you that you got an O,” Professor Snape said with a small smile as he handed each of the vials to the two remaining students.  
‘we really got an O?” Elise asked in slight disbelief.  
“Yes Miss Black. You and Mr Jordan work very well together. You might consider staying partners in February especially since you are already friends.”  
“How do you know that?” Lee said blinking in surprise.  
Elise cursed her father in her head but stayed calm on the outside.  
“I have extra lessons with professor Snape sometimes and we talk about other aspects of my life.” Elise said smiling.  
“Oh cool.” Lee said accepting the explanation.  
As Lee turned away Elise and her father shared a quick smile. Back at their work table, Lee and Elise put their vials in their bags before high-fiving each other.  
“Good doing business with you Sir,” Elise said with a curtsy.  
“Same goes to you my good lady,” Lee said with a bow and a nod.  
They burst out laughing seconds later, leaning on each other for support.  
“Guys?” Alex questioned coming over to them with a look of confusion.  
‘hi brother dear,” Elise said wiping her eyes and grinning.  
“Are you two ok?” George said looking amused.  
‘yep. More than,” Lee said wiping his eyes as well and slowly standing on his own.  
“We’re just really happy because we got an O on the potion,” Elise said quietly.  
“Did you really expect anything less?” Alex said with a proud smile.  
‘right, you two are the best at potions out of all of us besides Georgey here. And I bet you’re probably two of the best in our year,” Fred said with a smile of his own.  
“Aww you flatter me Freddy,” Elise said ruffling his hair which made him scowl and the others laugh.  
“Guys we should probably go now. We are still in professor Snape’s domain after all,” Lee said with a quick glance at the professor.  
The others blinked and sidled out of the room, discussing the class and their grades.

After potions the quintette decided to go to the room of requirement after stopping off at their respective common rooms to change into casual clothes.  
“What’s on the agenda today for homework?” Lee asked sitting next to Elise on a couch in the Room of requirement.  
“Charms and History homework for me,” George said, taking his supplies out of his bag.  
“Binns doesn’t even give homework, he’s too busy droaning on,” Elise said with an eye roll.  
“You’re right. And that’s why I’ve taken to reading a chapter or two after each class and making notes. Then i’ll at least have something to reference when we have to study for exams at the end of the year,” George said opening his History textbook.  
“Good thinking, I’ve been doing that too,” Elise said with a smile.  
“So have I,” Lee added.  
Alex nodded to show he’d been doing the same.  
“Am I the only one who wasn’t let in on this plan?” Fred said looking around at his friends.  
“Sorry Freddy, I figured Georgey would’ve mentioned it to you or you’d just start doing it,” Elise said letting Hades off her wrist and onto her lap.  
‘you know I hate extra work,” Fred said grimacing.  
“Well unfortunately when it comes to History it’s one of the only ways to pass the class.”  
“I guess if it’s a choice between having mum pissed off at me or putting in a little extra work, I’ll take the extra work any day,’ Fred said with a shiver.  
“Speaking of your mum, did she ever reply to your letter from a few weeks ago?” Elise asked.  
“Oh yeah she did,” Fred said perking up.  
“Yeah she did, you won’t believe who her friend was,” George cut in with a small smile.  
“Who?” Elise asked eagerly.  
“Regulus Black,” Fred said.  
“As in my cousin Regulus Black?” Elise said now sounding bewildered.  
“Yes. She said they were really close from her third year. She kept her friendship with Regulus separate from her friendship with our dad though because they didn’t exactly get along. She said that they wrote letters to each other after leaving Hogwarts until one day the letters stopped. After a week of no letters she wrote to your mum and she told her the news that he had passed away. She said she knew that they were on different sides of the war but she never judged him for that. He was always just her friend. She also said that he was an amazing person as a kid who would’ve been an amazing man,” George said, finishing off with a gentle smile to Elise.  
“Thank you,” she said softly.  
“No problem,” George said equally as soft.  
Elise closed her eyes for a few seconds, centering herself. Opening her eyes again she said.  
“I’m going to ask mama about their friendship later. It stands to reason cousin Regulus would’ve told her about Molly given how close they were.”  
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Lee said now down on the floor where he and Alex were playing with Ajax.  
“Al, have you told Blaise that you won’t be home this Christmas?” Elise said looking over at her brother.  
“Shit no I haven’t. And mum said it was up to me to tell him,” Alex said putting his head in his hands.  
‘don’t despair, you can tell him tonight when you call Malinda on the mirror.”  
“True. Don’t let me forget please. Have you already told Draco then?”  
“I won’t and yeah I have. I told him the same night we all wrote our letters.”   
‘what’s the time?” Fred asked nobody in particular.  
“I don’t know, you have a wand,” George said said nudging his brother playfully.  
“Oh shut up. I know but El’s the only one who knows how to do the charm,” Fred said.  
‘true and you’re all going to start learning it now. Hold your wands out in front of you, move it in a circular motion and say Tempus at the same time. Keep practicing daily if you must,” Elise said to everyone, taking her own wand out and performing the charm.  
“Shit, dinner started five minutes ago!” Elise exclaimed in surprise.  
The group rushed to put their things away and Elise told Hades to slip back onto her wrist before they left the room. Ajax with Alex as usual.  
They slipped into the Great hall and went to sit at their house tables.  
“How comes you two are late?” Gemma questioned.  
“We lost track of time,” Elise said as they sat down.  
‘Easily done,” Gemma said, pushing the nearest dishes towards them.  
The siblings smiled at her gratefully before tucking in. After dinner they went back to the Room of requirement where Alex and Fred finished their homework.  
“George didn’t you have some charms homework to do?” Elise said raising a brow.  
“Yeah I did but I’ll do it tomorrow,” George said dismissively.  
“Alright.”  
“Should we go back to our common rooms after Alex and Fred our done? Then we don’t have to worry about rushing later,” Lee suggested.  
“Sounds like a sound idea to me. Mind coming to the library with me tomorrow to look up the alarm charm?” Elise asked Lee.  
“Sure. I might even be able to ask professor Flitwick if he visits the tower tonight. He usually visits a few times throughout the week.”  
“Oh cool. Professor Snape doesn’t visit the common room unless someone’s in trouble or there’s a house meeting. But he has an all hours open door policy for his office.”  
“McGonagall doesn’t do any of that. We haven’t actually seen her at all in the tower,” George said.  
“Yeah, she’s not very involved according to the fifth years. Plus I’d rather go to Madam Pomfrey before I go to McGonagall,” Fred said scowling slightly.  
“I don’t blame you. She doesn’t seem like the comforting type,” Alex said with an eye roll.  
“Alright I’m done,” Fred said leaning back in his chair.  
“Yeah so am I,” Alex said starting to pack away.  
The friends separated with hugs and an agreement to meet up at the Ravenclaw table for breakfast.  
“That’s probably the least problematic choice out of all of our houses.” Lee had pointed out.  
Alex and Elise walked back to the Slytherin common room in a comfortable silence.  
“Yule.” Elise said when they reached the entrance.  
“Put our bags away then come back down here and talk for a bit?” Elise asked.  
“Yeah sure,” Alex agree.  
They separated and went up to their individual rooms to put their bags away. Back downstairs, they sat together on a couch near the fire. They were talking about when Elise was going to tell the others about the identity of her father when her eyes fell on someone familiar across the room.  
“Al would you mind if I cut in for a minute? I just saw cousin Sirius. Thought I’d go say hi,” Elise said with a small smile.  
“No problem.”  
“I’ll only be a few minutes,” Elise said standing up.  
She walked across the room and tapped her cousin on the shoulder as he was slightly turned away from her.  
“Elise, it’s nice to see you. How’ve you been?” Sirius said with a smile once he’d turned and seen it was her.  
“Hi, it’s nice to see you too. I’ve been good thanks. How are you? I was just talking to Alex when I spotted you and thought i’d come over and say hi.”  
“Oh cool. You’ll have to introduce me properly sometime,” Sirius said now with a grin.  
“Yeah, sure. Maybe.” Elise said rolling her eyes. “Well I’m glad you’re well. See you around.”  
“Yeah, take care. Oh and tell Sissa I said hi.”  
“Sure. And take care of yourself as well.”  
With one last smile Elise turned and walked back over to her brother.  
“Did you have a nice chat?” Alex asked as his sister took a seat again.  
“Yeah we did. We should probably go up to our rooms in a little bit if we wanna call Malinda and mama on the mirrors,” Elise said stroking her right wrist rhythmically where Hades was resting.  
“Yeah you’re right. I hope Blaise isn’t too upset about us not coming home,” Alex said frowning slightly.  
“Dray took it well enough. But also he knows he’s going to get to see Severus at some point which I think more than makes up for it,” Elise said lowering her voice and smiling fondly.  
“Oh I’m sure he’ll love that. Did they talk over your mirror then?”  
“Yeah. That Saturday when i first went to see him.”  
“Cool. Alright guess we might as well head up now. Sleep well,” Alex said taking his sisters free hand and giving it a quick squeeze.  
“You too. See you in the morning,” Elise said returning the squeeze.  
They smiled at each other as they parted ways to go to their rooms.

Alex opened the bottom compartment of his trunk which contained Ajax’s dog bed and called him over to get in. He petted him for a little while before going over to his bed which he fell onto with a sigh. He laid there in silence for a few moments, thinking about how to tell Blaise that he wouldn’t be home for Christmas. He almost wished he hadn’t asked his mum not to tell him herself. Coming to a conclusion he plastered on a smile and sat up to get to his mirror.  
“Malinda Zabini”  
A few seconds went by then his mum’s face appeared in the glass.  
“Hi dear, how are you?” Malinda said with a warm smile.  
“Hi mum, I’m good. How are you and Blaise?” Alex asked the tension slowly leaving his body.  
“We’re good. Blaise misses you. He’s been doing very well with his studies and taking advantage of having the bath to himself,” Malinda said with a laugh.  
“I bet he has,” Alex grumbled. “Can I speak to him? I want to tell him about Christmas.”  
“Sure.”  
Alex saw his mother’s face disappear from the glass before she yelled for his brother. He winced at the volume. He had forgotten that his mother could really shout when she had to. She was usually always calm but knew how to make her voice heard. A minute later, Blaise’s face appeared in the glass.  
“Hey Ally! Blaise said with a grin.  
“Hey Blaise. How are you?” Alex asked warmly.  
“I’m great.”  
“That’s good. Blaise, I have something I need to tell you. I need you to listen really carefully,’ Alex said quietly.  
Blaise nodded his understanding.  
“El and I have made some really good friends here at Hogwarts. And we’re really enjoying it. And you know how Severus works here?”  
“Yeah? He’s the Potions professor right?” Blaise asked.  
“Yes he is. Anyway. El and I have decided we would really like to spend Christmas here this year. El never gets to see her father on Christmas usually and we’d like to see what Christmas at Hogwarts is like. Is that ok with you?” Alex finished sounding slightly nervous.  
He was really looking forward to Christmas at Hogwarts but he hated having to disappoint his youngest brother.  
“Yeah I understand. Can I meet your new friends soon?” Blaise asked with a hesitant smile.  
“I’ll ask mum. But I’m sure she’ll say yes. I’m also going to ask mum to invite Narcissa and Draco over to the manor so you can still have fun over the holidays,” Alex said smiling again.  
“Thanks Ally. That will be so much fun. I have to go now. Talk soon?”  
“Of course. Night little bro. Love you,” Alex said with a a little wave.  
“Love you to Ally. Night.”  
Blaise waved back before handing the mirror back to his mum.  
“Hi love. See that went better than you expected. Blaise is very understanding and compassionate,” Malinda said making her way to her room.  
“You’re right. Will you invite Narcissa and Draco over mum? I think it would be great for both boys.”  
‘of course. I’ll talk to Narcissa about it next week. Now you should try to get some sleep as well.”  
“Yeah I probably should. Alright night mum, love you.”  
“Love you too Al dear. Call me again in a couple days even if you don’t have news.”  
“I will.”  
“End.”  
The glass went blank and Alex put his mirror away.  
He went into the bathroom to do his nightly routine before coming back into his room to change into his pajamas and get into bed.

With Elise____  
Elise took off her cloak once she was in her room and hung it on the back of her door. She then went to sit on her bed against the headboard. She tapped lightly on Hades’s back and hissed to him.  
~Wake up lazy bonesss Were back in my roomsss now.~  
~I’m a growing snake, I need my sleep.~~ Hades hissed back, sliding off Elise’s wrist.  
~Technically you’re not growing at the moment.~ Elise hissed with a smirk.  
~Oh shut up, human scemanticsss~ Hades hissed with a glare.  
Elise laughed.  
~Do you need anything to eat before I go to sleep?~  
~Yesss pleassse, sssome mice would be nice.~  
~Ok Ill asssk Juniper to put them in your terrarium for you while I have a quick shower.~  
~Thatsss fine. I’ll wait in there then.~  
~Alright, ill help you get off my bed.~  
Elise picked Hades up and placed him on the floor a little way away from his terrarium.  
He slithered over to it and got in. Elise called Juniper and asked her to get Hades some fresh mice while she got her things ready for her shower. She walked over to her trunk and opened the middle compartment where her clothes were. The inside looked like a row of draws. She opened one and took out a pair of pajamas and under garments before closing it. Her trunk was black and had three compartments. The bottom one was where she kept her potions ingredients and Hades’s food for traveling. It had a permanent preservation charm on it. The middle compartment housed her clothes and other personal items. And the top compartment housed things like her telescope, her cauldron, potions gloves and any other equipment she had been required to buy for school along with a bookshelf. The bookshelf had a charm on it which meant whenever you put a book on it it would shrink to fit the shelf and then once you pulled it out of the trunk again it would resize itself. For the best security the top compartment was protected with a parsletongue password. And every other compartment would only open to Elise’s hand as it only recognized her magical signature.  
While Juniper was tending to Hades Elise went to have her shower. She came back into her room a couple minutes later and Juniper was gone. She checked in on Hades and he was sleeping. She smiled to herself and continued to her bed. She got into bed and accioed her primary mirror over to her.  
“Narcissa Malfoy.” She said into the glass as she laid down.  
“Hi sweetheart,” Her mother said as her face came into view.  
“Hi mama. How are you and Draco?”  
“We’re both fine dear. How are you and your friends?”  
“We’re great thanks. Mama, I have a question. I found out something today and I wanted to ask you if you knew about it,” Elise said softly.  
“What is it? You know you can ask me anything,” Her mother replied with a reassuring smile.  
“I know. I found out that Molly Weasley, Fred and George’s mum was friends with cousin Regulus. Did he ever talk to you about her?” Elise asked cautiously.  
“Yes he did in fact. She was one of his best friends besides your father and myself,” Narcissa said with a wistful smile.  
“Really? Wow. It surprised me.”  
“I understand why. I’ve told you that the Slytherin and Gryffindor rivalry was even worse in my day than it ever will be for you. But Regi didn’t care about it. He wouldn’t let anyone tell him who he couldn’t be friends with. I’m still on good terms with Molly myself.”  
“Oh that’s good. When we’re all together at some point things won’t be awkward then.”  
“No I shouldn’t think so. I never had much to do with Arthur but Molly did tell me about him quite a bit. We would often gossip about our love lives in our fifth and sixth year.”  
“I suspect that’ll be Pans and I in a few years.” Elise said with a small smile.  
“Yes, I don’t doubt that at all.”  
“I’m gonna try and get some sleep now mama. I’ll call you again soon. Night. I love you. Give Draco a hug for me please.”  
“I will love. I love you too.”  
“End” elise said through a yawn.  
__________  
Two weeks before Christmas***  
It was a couple days before the Christmas break and heads of houses were taking down the names of students that would be staying at the castle. The quintette had all put their names down after receiving permission from their parents. It was the weekend and the group of friends decided to go to the kitchens to visit the elves and see what snacks were being made. No matter what time you turned up, even if it was the middle of the night the elves would always have baked treats on hand. As long as you were quiet and polite they wouldn’t tell the professors you were out of bed after hours.  
“Hi Juniper,” Elise said as the entrance to the kitchens closed behind Lee.  
“Hi young Mistress Elise and friends. Would yous like some cookies and hot chocolate?” Juniper asked stopping momentarily on her way back to the oven.  
“Yes please!” Everybody said in unison.  
Juniper laughed and called Loci who came through to with five mugs of ready made, sweet smelling hot chocolate.  
“How did you make it so fast?” Lee asked as Loci placed a mug in front of him.  
“Elf magic,” Loci said with a wink.  
“Juniper before you go back to cooking we had a question,” Elise said.  
Juniper looked up at Elise quizzically.  
“We were wondering if we could come back during the day on Christmas Eve and bake some cookies?” Fred asked looking hopeful.  
“Juniper would be very happy for yous to bake some cookies with Juniper. Will they be just for your group?”  
“Yes,” Elise said.  
“That’s fine. Yous can come here after breakfast.  
“Awesome, thanks,” George said with a grin.  
Juniper went back to cooking the day’s dinner and the group stayed at the table for awhile longer, talking about what shapes their cookies would be.  
Over the next few days the quintette owl/call their parents to let them know what they would like to buy their friends and siblings for Christmas. Elise enlisted her father’s help with ordering her mother’s present.  
“Are we spending Christmas in the ROR?” Alex asked the group as they walked round the castle that evening.  
“No. We’ll be spending it somewhere else in the caslte but I can’t say where that is till Christmas Eve,” Elise said with a significant glance in her brother’s direction.  
He smiled knowingly at her.  
“Awh, why can’t you tell us now?” Fred wined.  
“Because Freddy, it’s a secret,” Elise said in a sing song voice.  
He grumbled something under his breath which made Lee snigger.  
‘I’ll pretend I have no idea what you said,” Elise said making Lee laugh.  
“”I’ve been practicing the tempus charm and I think i’ve got it now,” George announced proudly.  
“Great then you can tell the rest of us what the time is. I have a feeling we need to start heading back to our common rooms,” Elise said.  
George took his wand out and mumbled “Tempus”  
“Yep you’re right. Curfew is coming up,” George said a minute later.

Time skip to Christmas Eve____  
The quintette smiled at each other when passing one another on the way to their house tables for breakfast. Lee was the first down. Followed by Elise and Alex, with the twins arriving 10 minutes before the end of breakfast. After breakfast they made their way down to the kitchens.  
“Why were you two so late to breakfast?” Elise asked the twins.  
“It takes time to look this good,” Fred said with a smirk.  
“Sure sweetie. Believe what you want. George?” Elise asked with a playful roll of her eyes.  
“I mean Freddy’s not wrong. But the real reason we were late to breakfast is because we overslept,” George said with a sheepish grin.  
“Oh boys,” Elise said in mock exasperation.  
“Yeah yeah, cool story. But we’re kind of at the kitchens now,” Alex said becoming animated and bouncing forward to tickle the pear.  
He had chosen to leave Ajax in his room for now as he didn’t want him causing trouble in the kitchens. Elise had also left Hades in his terrarium, but only because he wanted to sleep longer. He had started sleeping more as the temperature dropped.  
“Juniper! We’re here!” Alex called.  
Juniper appeared seconds later with five aprons in her arms.  
‘hi Sirs and Miss Elise. Here’s is yous aprons,” Juniper said as she handed them out. “Loci and Bluebell will bes baking with us. Juniper thought yous would like to do it all the muggle way,” Juniper said clapping her hands with a grin.  
Everybody made noises of agreement to this and Juniper lead the way into the main part of the kitchens.  
“We were thinking that we could make half of the cookies with cinnamon in them and the other half plain. And we’d like to decorate them once they’re done. Also do you have any cookie cutters?” Alex asked.  
“Yes we have many different ones. We also have icing and sprinkles.” Bluebell said.  
‘Awesome, let’s get started then,” Elise said with a grin.  
The group had a lot of fun making the cookies. Everyone had a task to do and they took it in turns to mix the cooking mixture in with the other ingredients. There were cookies in the shape of Christmas trees, snowmen, angels, fairies, reindeers and stars. Some had green and red icing on them, some had chocolate sprinkles, some had red sprinkles with white icing and some were left plain. The students were now sitting at the table with two trays of cookies between them.  
“Only have one for now. I’m going to tell you where we’re spending Christmas and then we’ll be visiting the place for a bit,” Elise said quietly but firmly.  
“Finally, i’ve been dying to know,” Fred grumbled as he took a cinnamon cookie from one of the trays.  
Lee elbowed him from his left side.  
“OW! What was that for?” Fred ask glaring at Lee.  
“El is obviously nervous about what she’s about to say. Shush so she can get it out,” Lee said with an encouraging smile to Elise.  
“Thanks Lee... Lee’s right. Remember how I didn’t want to say who my father was on the train?” Elise said between really small bites of a cinnamon cookie with red sprinkles and white icing.  
“Yeah? We’re still not going to judge. You know that right?” George said softly.  
“I know, it doesn’t make it easier unfortunately. Anyway.. you’ve actually met him already. It’s professor Snape,” Elise said looking down.  
“No way really? That’s awesome!” Lee said with a grin.  
“Right. Your dad is one of the best professors in the school,” Fred said wide eyed.  
“Say what now?” Elise said surprised.  
“Your dad is cool. Wait, that’s why you’ve been going to see him isn’t it?” George asked suddenly.  
“And that’s how he really knew we were friends.” Lee added.  
“Yes to both of you. You really mean what you said?” Elise asked clasping her hands together in her lap.  
The boys nodded enthusiastically.  
Elise let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding and grinned widely.  
“Thanks guys. So if you haven’t figured it out by now, we’re spending tomorrow in papa’s private quarters. That way we can see our families if we want and papa doesn’t have to spend the day alone,” Elise said with a small smile.  
“Cool,” Fred and George said together.  
“Can’t wait,” Lee said still grinning.  
“I already knew.,” Alex said making them all laugh.  
‘ready to go and meet him properly then?”  
Everybody nodded and stood up.  
“We’re off now Juniper, thanks again for today,” Elise called to the elf.  
“Ok, see yous tomorrow,” Juniper called back.  
The twins carrying the trays they left the kitchens and Elise lead the way to her father’s quarters.  
“What does she mean she’ll see us tomorrow?” Lee questioned as they turned a corner.  
“Oh, Juniper is papa’s elf. That’s how I really know her. She did work at the manor for a short while a couple years ago though.” Elise said flushing slightly.  
“Oh cool. I thought there was more to that story,” Lee said amused.  
They reached a wall and Elise put out an arm.  
“Stop. This is it.”  
And with that she put her left hand on the wall and it opened up to reveal a room.  
“Hi papa, we’ve got company!” Elise called into the room.  
Severus appeared a minute later and smiled at the sight of them all.  
“You finally told them then?” Severus said beckoning them all in.  
“Yeah, just a few minutes ago in the kitchens after we finished making these,” Elise said happily.  
“I told you they would be fine about it.”  
“You did but you know what i’m like,” Elise said with a small laugh.  
“I do indeed,” Severus said smiling as he took a plain cookie with chocolate sprinkles.  
They spent the rest of the day talking and eating cookies. After awhile Severus made them stop so he could order dinner from the kitchens.  
“Care to stay and join me? I assume you will be here all of tomorrow then?”  
“Sure and yes we will be,” Alex answered.  
Dinner was a warm affair with chatter, laughter and more cookies for dessert.  
The quintette left Severus’s rooms a few minutes before curfew and went their separate ways.  
They all fell asleep quickly, excited for the day ahead.


	10. Chapter 7

It was finally Christmas. In the morning, the quintet met up and made their way to Elise's father's rooms.   
"Papa, we're here," Elise called as they all entered the living room area.   
"I'll be out in a minute," her father called back.   
"Get comfortable. We're going to eat breakfast pretty much straight away, though, so let me show you to the dining area." Elise lead the way round a corner by the fireplace, which opened into an area with a large dining table.   
"Great, cause I'm starving," Fred said, slumping into a chair.   
"Me too," Alex said, doing the same.   
"Well, it's lucky then that Juniper has breakfast ready and is just waiting for my call," Severus said, going into the side room.   
Fred and George blushed slightly and Lee smiled self consciously.   
"Morning, sir," Fred mumbled.   
"Relax. When not in classes, you may call me Severus. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of each other after today, and I can't have you calling me professor out of school, now can I?" Severus said with a smile. The twins relaxed and Lee sent Severus an apologetic smile. "Morning, El, Al. How are you two?" Severus said, turning to his daughter and the boy who was like a son to him. They were smirking and amusement was dancing in both their eyes.   
"We're good thanks, Sev," Alex said, trying not to laugh.   
"Yep. Great in fact," Elise chirped before the siblings looked at each other and burst into peels of laughter.   
"You enjoyed watching us flounder, didn't you?" Lee said to them with an accusatory tone.   
"Maybe just a little," Alex said through a laugh.   
"It was pretty amusing," Elise agreed.   
"Why didn't you tell us your dad would be so casual?" George asked, crossing his arms over his chest and attempting to look stern.   
"Because it was more funny for us this way. Come on, Georgy. It's Christmas. You can't be mad," Elise said, sobering up and batting her eyelashes at him.   
"Fine, but only because it's Christmas and I'm hungry," He said, uncrossing his arms and smiling.   
"You two were always a mischievous pair," Severus said with a fond smile.   
"What's for breakfast?" Fred said as Severus took a seat between Lee and George.   
"An English breakfast of course, but not quite as big as lunch is going to be," Severus replied. Juniper?"   
Juniper appeared and smiled at the children. "Merry Christmas, master Severus! Merry Christmas, mistress Elise and young Sirs! Is yous wanting breakfast now?"  
"Yes, please, Juniper. What would everyone like to drink?" Elise and George chose pumpkin juice, while Lee, Fred and Alex chose tea.  
"And I'll have a cup of coffee, please," Severus said, smiling down at his elf. Juniper snapped her fingers and a tray with sections appeared on the table. She popped away, then came back seconds later with the hot drinks on one tray and two glasses of pumpkin juice on another. She set them in front of their recipients.   
"Juniper hopes yous enjoy and likes the Christmas designs," the elf said before popping away.   
"Oh, cool. Everything is Christmas themed, well, everything besides the sausages of course," Lee grinned.   
He was right. The pancakes were in the shape of Christmas trees, the bacon was cut into the shape of snowflakes, and the toast was cut into the shape of snowmen, with a small pile of regular triangles as well. There were also crumpets that had somehow been made the shape of halos. The twist, however, was that everything was miniature.   
"Juniper has really outdone herself this year. I never get this kind of treatment," Severus said in mock outrage, which made everyone chuckle. If I'm not mistaken, the tray will refill once empty. If we want more, all you have to do is hover your hand over the section you'd like more of."   
"That's awesome," Alex said, dishing himself a plate.   
One by one, everybody got themselves a plate, and the room descended into a low hum. All that could be heard was the clatter of utensils and occasional movement.   
"What are we doing after breakfast?" Alex asked, putting his fork down.   
"You're families will be coming through the floo. Fred and George, your family will be here first, then, El, your mother and Draco will arrive just after with Alex's mother and brother last. Before that, however, I believe some owls should be arriving shortly."   
"With our presents for each other?" Lee asked.   
"That's correct," Severus responded before doing a quick time check. It's nine now. They should be here any minute."   
After that, the others started to eat a little faster. A couple of minutes later, everyone had finished eating and drinking. They all got up' and sat down in the living area again, talking and waiting for the owls.   
As expected, there was a tap on the window, but what they didn't expect was the amount of owls that came. About five of them flew in and over to the group, followed by another two a minute later.  
"Wow, that's a lot more owls than I was expecting," George said, wide-eyed.   
"Yeah, cause they've brought all our presents for each other , which equates to quite a lot," Elise said, taking the last package from the owl in front of her. She stroked its feathers before turning to her father. "Do you have any treats for them?"   
"Yes, I do. They're in my room. Would you like to do the honours?" Severus said as he helped Alex with his owls.   
"Sure." Taking her wand out of her robe pocket, she waved it in the direction of her father's room, and said "accio father's owl treats." The bag of owl treats came zooming towards her, and she cort them with her free hand.   
"Impressive," Lee said with a low whistle. Elise laughed and gave each owl a treat. They hooted their thanks before turning and flying back to the window, and out into the morning air.   
"El, would you mind passing me the bag of treats? My owl looks like it's ready to go," Lee asked from Elise's other side. She handed them to her friend before running her hands over the wrapping of her presents.   
"They're so pretty. I wonder what's inside," she said.   
"Well, open them and you'll find out," Alex grinned.   
"I'd rather wait for you guys to be done first," Elise responded. The bag of owl treats was passed around a few more times, until the last owl left the room with a hoot.   
"All right, how about we all open each other's presents at the same time, so like everybody finds what the twins got them, and opens it at the same time," Alex suggested.   
"Sounds like a cool idea," George grinned. The others agreed. They went with Alex's example, and they searched for what the twins had got them.   
Sharing a grin, Alex, Elise and Lee tore into their presents. They had each gotten t-shirts. Alex's had a tactile drawing of Ajax on it, Elise's had a tactile drawing of Hades on it, and Lees had a moving picture of the five of them on it.  
"Wow, guys. These are amazing," Elise said, her grin widening.   
"The animals have been captured perfectly," Alex said, just as happily.   
"How did you manage it? I'm certain we haven't taken a photo together yet," Lee said, looking from one twin to the other. George was avoiding his eyes.   
"Georgy here is an incredible artist. Can draw almost anything in great detail," Fred said, smiling proudly.   
"No way, Georgy. You drew these yourself?" Elise said, looking at him.   
"Yeah, I did. They're not that good," George said quietly.   
"George, are you kidding me? They're amazing," Lee said, shooting George a grateful smile.   
"George drew the designs, and then we paid for the cost of the customisation together," Fred said.   
"Wow, Thanks, guys. I'll have to ask Hades what he thinks," Elise said with a short laugh. They folded their t-shirts and put them to the side.   
"All right, how about we open Elise's presents now," Lee suggested, already starting to search again. The others nodded and resumed their own searching. Elise sat back with a contented smile. Finding the presents, they tore them open.   
"Look at the back of them," Elise said.   
"Oh, cool. They have our initials," Lee said.   
"I thought they were important for us to have, so you guys don't have to keep putting your wands in your bags, and can have them on hand. I got Alex an arm holster, and the rest of you have wrist ones. I have one for myself somewhere." She rummaged through her gifts and found the package. Unwrapping it, she revealed a purple wrist holster. Basically, to call them to your hand, you just flick your wrist upward. Alex, to call yours to you, you have to rotate your arm clockwise quickly, or you can say accio wand. They have anti summoning charms that block anyone apart from their owner from summoning them from your holster. Also, if you touch your first two fingers to the back of it, that turns them invisible, along with your wand."   
"These will be really useful," George said, putting his on.   
Next, they opened their presents from Alex. He had gotten the twins Montros Magpies quidditch jerseys, he had gotten Lee a book on the most exotic magical creatures around the world, and he had gotten Elise a silver snake pendent with her name on it.   
"Awww, Al. This is gorgeous. Thanks," Elise said, going over to her brother and hugging him.   
"You're welcome, sis," he said, returning the hug with a smile.   
"Al, you're like the best friend in the whole entire world," Fred said, looking down at his jersey with disbelieving eyes.  
"What he said. They're so awesome," George said, equally enthused.   
"You're welcome, guys," Alex chuckled.   
"This book has so many creatures I'v never even heard of," Lee said reverently.   
"I know. Had to pick up a copy for myself too," Alex said with a grin in Lee's direction.   
Putting their presents aside, they came to their last round of presents from each other. They all tore off the paper from box shaped packages to find a small box inside, the kind that contained some type of jewelry.   
"They're lockets," Elise said, opening hers.   
"Yeah, each of them are your favourite colour. We don't have any pictures together yet, so I thought we could either take some today, or you could put a photo you already have in them. They also have charms that link them together, and the others will heat up if any of us are in danger," Lee said, smiling shyly.   
"I love them," Alex said with a wide smile.   
"Yeah, so do I," Elise agreed, taking her locket out of the box and tracing the designs. All of them had little engravings of the Hogwarts house emblems, as well as the first initials of everyone's names.   
"A very thoughtful gift indeed," Severus said, making everyone except Elise jump.   
"Papa, you scared the poor dears," Elise giggled. The boys glared at her, and she just grinned innocently back.   
"That wasn't my intention. I just went to get Elise's, Alex's and Draco's presents. Molly should be here any minute with the rest of your family," Severus said with a glance at the twins. "Would you like to wait until everyone is here to open these?" The siblings nodded. Severus took a seat next to Alex on one of the sofas, and they began to discuss the plan for the day ahead, until the fireplace flashed green.   
"They're coming," Lee said, making the others turn to watch the fireplace. Molly came through first, followed by the youngest Weasley children, the two oldest, and the Weasley patriarch.   
"Severus, It's so great to see you again," Molly said, giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Severus had stood up to greet everyone.   
"Hi, kids," Arthur said with a jovial smile.   
"Hi, dad. These are our friends we told you about," Fred said.   
"Yeah, this is Elise Black, Alex Malfoy, and Lee Jordan. Elise is Severus' daughter, but I guess you already knew that?" George said with a questioning glance at his father at the end of his explanation.   
"Hi, it's very nice to meet you all, and no, we didn't know actually. We haven't seen Severus properly in years, not outside official business," Arthur said with a sad smile.   
"It's nice to meet you too, sir. Alex and I are more like siblings, though," Elise said with a small smile to Arthur.   
"Please, please. Call me Arthur. None of this sir business, and that's nice. I see you've already started opening presents," Arthur said with a brief look to the pile of wrapping paper on the floor.   
"We decided we'd open the presents we got each other before everyone arrived," Lee said.   
"Get some nice things?"   
"Yes, Elise got us all wand holsters, Lee got us all lockets that are linked and can let us know when someone in the group's in danger, we got Alex, Elise and Lee custom made sweaters, and Alex got everyone something different," Fred explained, helping Ginny sit down.   
"Sounds lovely," Molly said, joining the conversation. It's very nice to meet you all. As Arthur said earlier, please call me Molly. Mrs Weasley is my mother in-law, who is sadly no longer with us. I'm sure Fred and George have told you about our youngest two. We also brought our eldest two along for the day. Couldn't have them missing out on the festivities. This is Charlie, and this is-"   
There was suddenly a sound like wind chimes, which made everyone look around in confusion.   
"I should have warned you all. That's the alert that lets me know when someone's outside who's not keyed into the wards. That'll be Percy," Severus said, going over to the doorway. He opened the entrance with a wave of his wand to reveal a sheepish Percy standing there.   
"Hi, hope I'm not too late. I over slept," Percy said with an embarrassed smile.   
"No, not at all. Come in," Severus said, beckoning Percy in with a smile.   
"Hi, Perce," Arthur said, shooting his son a grin as he passed him.   
"Hi, dad." Percy sat down next to Ginny on the loveseat, and Molly went back to introductions.   
"As I was saying, this is Bill," Molly said, waving a hand to each of them in turn.   
"Merry Christmas, Squirt," Bill said, going over to the group and ruffling Fred's hair. Fred scowled, and batted Bill's hand away.   
"Cool earring," Alex said to Bill. "Hi, Charlie."  
"Thanks. You're Alex, right?" Bill asked as Charlie came over and sat down.   
"Yeah, I am."   
"Hope the twins haven't been corrupting you too much," Charlie said.   
"No, not at all. Me and Elise are more likely to do the corrupting," Alex laughed.   
"I see. That explains why you're all so close," Bill said, amused.   
At that moment, the fireplace flashed green again, and Narcissa came through, followed shortly by Draco.   
"Sissa, it's great to see you," Severus said, giving her a welcoming hug. He had barely pulled away, when he was suddenly pounced on by an excited nine year old.   
"Sev!" Draco cried, jumping into Severus' arms. Severus caught his godson, just managing not to fall.   
"Hi, little dragon. How are you?" Severus asked.   
"I'm great. It's Christmas, and we're all together. Mama didn't tell me we were coming here till we got to the fireplace. I thought we were going to Blaise's house all week. Where is Blaise? Merry Christmas, Sev," Draco said, his words coming out in one, long, excited string.   
"Wow, slow down there, little dragon," Severus chuckled. "Blaise and his mother should be here any minute. I asked your mother to keep it a secret, and merry Christmas to you too."   
"Okay cool. I'm gonna wait here with you till Mama's done saying hello to Alex."   
Narcissa and Alex locked eyes for a second before Narcissa slowly approached him.   
"May I?" she seemed to say with her eyes. Alex nodded, and she folded him into a huge hug. "Oh, my darling boy! I've missed you so much." Narcissa's voice shook.   
Alex clung to the woman who was like a second mother to him. Elise looked at them, and her features softened. Pulling back after a few minutes, Narcissa kissed Alex on the forehead. "How have you been?" she asked, discretely trying to wipe away her tears.   
"I've been good. I've missed you, El and Draco. It's been really great being here and seeing El everyday. We've made some really nice friends," Alex said with a small smile.   
"Yes, I've heard quite a lot about them," Narcissa said with a smirk at her daughter.   
"Mama! You make it sound like they're all I talk about. That's so not true," Elise said indignantly.   
"It's okay, El. We don't blame you. We are pretty amazing," Lee said with a smirk.   
"Oh, shut up," Elise said, pushing Lee playfully.   
"Hey, Dray, come here," Elise called to her little brother. He came over, and she opened her arms wide. He fell into them with a squeal.   
"Merry Christmas, El," Draco said into her neck.   
"Merry Christmas, worm," She said back, stroking his hair. They pulled back and she took his hand. "Budge up, guys." Lee moved over slightly to make room, and Draco sat between him and his sister. "Guys, this is Draco." Draco said hi quietly, and they all smiled.   
"I see how it is. No hello for me, Dray?" Alex said, pretending to be sad.   
"Alex! Draco shrieked, jumping off the sofa and scrambling into his bid brother's waiting arms.  
"What ever you say. I've missed you so much. You're so big now. Have you been good for Narcissa?" Alex said, hugging his brother.   
"Yeah. I try," Draco said as Alex let go of him.   
After a few more minutes of conversation, Draco went back to his original seat. By now, Blaise and Alex's mother had arrived, and further introductions had been made. Ron was watching Alex and Elise distrustfully. Ginny, on the other hand, was talking to everyone. She had obviously decided that the Slytherins were all right.   
An hour later, after everyone had arrived, they decided to continue opening presents. Molly had made everybody Christmas sweaters, children and adults alike. Each person had a sweater in white, with their first initial on it, surrounded by snowflakes and Christmas decorations. The younger kids had snow angels as well as snowflakes instead of decorations on theirs.  
"Your mum made us sweaters too?" Lee whispered to George in surprise.   
"That's just how mum is. Adopts all our friends basically as family as soon as we mention them," George whispered back.   
"Your mum's awesome," Elise said in a low voice, joining the conversation.   
"I wouldn't go that far..." George said doubtfully. Lee and Elise just sniggered.   
"I even made something for Juniper. I made her protective gloves for when she's cleaning or cooking hot things. They're fireproof, and charmed to repel dirt," Molly said to Severus.   
"Oh, wow. Thank you so much. She'll really appreciate those. I'll just call her now. Juniper?" With a pop, Juniper appeared.   
"Master Severus is calling Juniper?"   
"Yes, Juniper, Molly Weasley has made you something. She's Fred and George's mother." Juniper turned to Molly in question.   
"Hi, Juniper. You probably won't remember me. I'm a good friend of Severus'. Anyway, I made you some protective gloves for cleaning and cooking. They're fireproof, and repel dirt. If they don't fit originally, they'll resize to fit you," Molly explained, holding them out with a small smile.   
Juniper's eyes went wide. She looked to Severus first for permission. He nodded a smile.   
"Thank you so much, Mrs Weasey," Juniper said with a watery smile.   
"You're more than welcome, dear," Molly said, patting Juniper's hand.   
"Lunch will be ready soon, master Severus. What would yous bes liking to drink?"   
Everyone went round and said their requests. The kids all wanted butter beer, while the adults chose a mixture of mead and fire whisky.  
"I will bes back later. Merry Christmas, all."   
"Merry Christmas!" Everybody called back before Juniper popped away.   
Next, the kids opened their presents from Narcissa.  
"Boys, I spoke to your mother so I could get you something as well," Narcissa smiled as she handed the twins their gifts. They thanked her with identical wide-eyed grins. Opening them, they found two things, something wrapped in tissue paper and a poster each.   
"Wow! They're of our favourite quidditch team!" Fred exclaimed.   
"No way, and they're signed! Thank you so much!" George said, smiling at Narcissa.   
"Call me Narcissa or Sissa, whichever you prefer," she smiled back.   
"Thanks, Sissa," Fred said, staring at his poster in amazement.   
"ow! Al, what was that for?" Fred said, pulling his arm towards him protectively. Alex had pinched him.   
"You still have something else to open, remember?" Alex said.   
"Oh yeah."   
They unwrapped the tissue paper, and found identical mirrors that were the same as the ones Alex and Elise had."   
"I thought I might as well get them for you now to save time during the summer. I already know you'll all be friends this time next year. Call it mother's intuition. El, if you and Al give me your mirrors, I can do a spell to link them, so you can all contact each other. I also bought Blaise one so he isn't left out."   
"I'll have to go back to my dorm to get mine," Alex said.   
"Yeah, so will I," Elise said.   
"No problem. You can go and get them after we’ve finished opening presents," Narcissa said.   
The opening of presents resumed. Narcissa had gotten Elise a Puddlemeer United hoodie and Alex an Appleby Arrows one..   
"Wow, thanks, mama," Elise said with a huge grin, getting up to give her mum a hug.   
"Your welcome, love. Alex, I hope you like yours."  
"Yeah, I love it. Thanks a lot," Alex said with a grin of his own.   
Lee got a communication mirror and a twenty one pilots hoodie. "H-how did you know?" Lee asked in evident shock.   
"I did some digging and contacted your parents. It wasn't hard. We did go to school with your dad. We just never really ran in the same friendship circle, but you're dad told me they were your favorite muggle band.  
"They are. I don't know what to say. Thank you so much," Lee said, still stunned.  
"You're more than welcome."   
Next, the younger kids opened a few gifts. Narcissa had gotten Ron and Ginny posters of their favourite quidditch teams, the Chudley Cannons and the Holyhead Harpies, respectively. She had also gotten them each a winter cloak in their favourite colours.   
"Sissa, you shouldn't have. Thank you so much. Kids, what do you say?" Molly said, smiling gratefully at her friend before turning to her youngest children.   
"Thank you," they said happily in unison.  
"You're welcome," Narcissa said with a warm smile to them both.   
Blaise and Draco opened their presents from Narcissa next. Blaise got a Lego set and a communication mirror, while Draco got a magical creature set.   
"These are so cool. Thanks, mama," Draco said, staring at all the animals through the bag. They were neatly packed. Each animal came in its own little enclosure type box, which was see through.   
"You're welcome, dragon."   
"Thanks for my gift as well, Sissa," Blaise said, grinning from ear to ear.   
"You're very welcome, Blaise."  
From Alex's mum, he got a Green Day hoodie and a signed poster. Elise got an All Time Low hoodie and wrist band. Draco received some dragon pajamas and a new winter cloak that was purple, with different types of dragons on it.  
"I'm sorry I didn't get you guys anything. I did my shopping rather late. I'll definitely get you all something for your birthdays," Melinda said with an apologetic smile at the remainder of the quintet.   
"It's okay," Lee said for them all, giving Melinda a small smile.   
From Bill, Fred received a quidditch set. It had a makeshift pitch, that was the same size as a chess board, and 14 little players with a referee that had a megaphone in its hand. The figures were able to be moved around the board, and all came with broomsticks, as well as all the other required pieces.   
"This is so cool. Thanks, Bill," Fred said, his eyes lighting up.   
"You're welcome, little bro."  
George received his own art set, an A4 drawing pad with different types of pens and crayons. George just stared at it all, his mouth agape.   
"You okay, Georgy?" Bill asked, smiling.   
"How did you know?" he asked slowly.   
"We've all seen you drawing in the garden sometimes. There are times when you'd get so into it, that you would completely forget your surroundings. Mum wanted you to be able to continue with your drawing, even while at Hogwarts, so Charlie and I put some money together to buy you all of this."   
George got up and went over to Bill and Charlie, giving each of them a hug. "Thanks for this, guys," he said quietly before going back to his seat.   
Alex received a model of a thunderbird that had a stand.   
"When you take it off its stand, it flies around the room. When you want it to come back to you, you just put your hand out flat, palm up. It's from both me and Charlie," Bill said in response to Alex's squeal of excitement.   
"It's amazing. Thanks, guys." They just chuckled and grinned back.   
Draco received a wooden model of a dragon.   
"Its a Common Welsh Green. I heard that's one of your favourites," Charlie smiled at Draco.   
"Yeah it is," Draco replied, cradling the model in his hands.   
"There's more. your mum says that if you’re good until next summer, before the older ones start their second year here, you can come for a visit to the dragon reserve.   
"Seriously?" Draco said, his eyes impossibly wide.   
"Seriously. Alex and Elise will be coming too. Everyone might be coming to Romania, but only you three will be coming to the reserve," Charlie said, trying not to laugh at the stunned looks on both Alex and Elise's faces now.   
"Mum, is this true?" Alex asked.   
"Yes, dear. You'll be visiting the dragon reserve that Charlie works at next summer. We're all going to Romania for two weeks at the start of the summer. I'm not sure about Lee, yet. We haven't brought it up to his parents. We thought we'd wait a couple of months before doing so, but that's the plan," Melinda explained, smiling.   
"Coool, I really hope my parents say I can go. When will you be asking them?" Lee asked Melinda.   
"After your birthday. It's in May, right?"  
"Yeah, how did you know that?"   
"Aha, I have my sources," Melinda said with a wink.   
"Did Sev tell you?" Alex asked, looking triumphant.   
"Yes, you're too smart for you're own good, Mr," Alex's mother laughed. He just grinned at her.   
They continued opening presents after that. Elise received a pair Puddlemeer United socks and a beanie.  
"Cool, thanks, guys," Elise said, grinning at them. They grinned back.   
Lee received twenty one pilots' latest album, Trench.   
"This is awesome. I haven't got this album on CD yet. Thank you, guys," Lee said.   
"You're welcome," Bill smiled warmly.   
From Severus, Elise got a book on parsle magic.  
"I've been wanting this book for ages. Thanks so much, Papa," Elise squealed, going over to her father and hugging him.   
"You're welcome, little one. My only condition is that you have to come to me or one of the other adults in this room if you want to practice any of the more advanced spells in the book. For example, the healing ones."  
"I promise," Elise agreed before sitting down again.   
Alex received three t-shirts. One had a moving picture of a thestral on it, another had a moving picture of a thunderbird, flying through a stormy sky, and the other had a picture of two baby nifflers, who were both grabbing gold coins.   
"They're so cute. Thanks, Sev," Alex said with a pleased smile.   
"No problem, Al."   
Draco received a book on dragons, and another on muggle fairytales.  
"I remembered you telling me that you wanted to know what muggle fairytales were like, and if they were better than anything in the Tales of Beedle the Bard," Severus said, smiling.   
"Oh yeah, I remember that. Thanks, Sev. I'll read some of them tomorrow and call you on my mirror to let you know what I think. You have one too now, right?"   
"No, little dragon. I don't, sadly." Draco's face fell.   
"Not to worry, Dray. I bought Sev one, and you're mum just has to link them together later for you two to be able to talk," Melinda said, grinning.   
"Cool, Thanks, Mel," Draco said, grinning back at her.   
Blaise received a book on screech owls, a new pair of pajamas with different plants, detailing the arms.   
"These are pretty cool. Thanks for the book too, Sev. I'll read it with mum," Blaise said, smiling at both adults in turn. They both smiled back.   
"Is that all the gifts?" Percy asked.   
"Of course not. You haven't opened anything for one, but also, Elise got both of her parents something, and so did Alex," Molly said, handing Percy a large bag.   
"Is this all for me?" Percy asked, taken aback.   
"Yes, I have one here for Bill and Charlie, too," Molly said, giving them another large bag.   
Inside Percy's bag, there was a collection of books by James Patterson from Severus.  
"I remembered that you wanted some of his books for yourself after our last chat. I ordered them two weeks ago, and went to pick them up a few days ago," Severus said, giving Percy a small smile.  
"You and Severus talk?" Fred asked in surprise.   
"Yes, we do. I come to him if I need a listening ear or have a problem. I'm sure you've already realised by now that Professor Mcgonagall, while being an exceptional teacher, isn't the best person to go to for personal things or just anything not school related, so Severus has been kind enough to mentor me since my second year," Percy responded.   
"That's right, and we're very grateful to you for that, Severus. Percy is always telling us how great you are with him," Molly said, shooting Severus a smile.   
"It's no problem at all. Percy's a well adjusted young man, and he's very wise."   
"Awww, you're making Perce blush, guys," Charlie said, smirking.   
"Shut up, Charlie," Percy said, glaring momentarily at his brother.  
"All right, enough teasing your brother. Open one of your presents, Bill," Arthur spoke up.   
Bill put a hand into his bag, and pulled out a gift. Unwrapping it, he found some hoodies and a watch.  
"Those are from me?" Narcissa said from her seat between Molly and Severus.   
"Thanks a lot, Narcissa. These are great. I've been needing a new watch," Bill said.   
"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it," Narcissa said with a small smile.   
The next gift Bill opened was from his mother and father. They had gotten him two pairs of black leather pants.   
"These are great. Thanks, mum and dad," Bill said, grinning at them.   
"It took a little convincing from your father, but he reminded me that you are an adult now, and times have changed," Molly said.   
"Well, thanks again, dad. They're perfect."   
"Charlie, why don't you open some now?" Percy said, turning to his second oldest brother.  
"All right, then,"   
"Charlie got a lot of clothes, mixed in with some chocolate and a bottle of fire whisky from Narcissa, which gave them both a laugh, and just made Molly sigh dramatically and pretend to look cross.  
Bill and Percy finished opening their presents, and finally, it was time for Elise and Alex to give their parents their presents.   
Narcissa handed Elise a wrapped box to take over to Severus. It was very big, nearly the same size as Elise herself, so she got her friends to help her carry it over to her father.   
"I hope you like it, papa," Elise smiled warmly at him.  
Severus unwrapped the box, which took a little while. He then used his wand to open the seal on the box. Opening it, his mouth fell open.   
"How did you know?" Severus said after a few seconds of shocked silence.  
"I took stock of everything in your private lab the first time I was here, and thought you'd appreciate a whole new set of appliances," Elise said softly.   
"Wow, thank you so much, little one. This really means a lot. Did you use money out of your vault for this?"   
"Yep, every sickle that went into it," Elise said proudly.   
"Thank you, El. I don't know what else to say," Severus said, inspecting everything inside the box, his eyes still wide.   
"I'm glad you like it," Elise said with a wide smile. "Do you have mama's presents?"   
"Yes, I do. I'll just go and get them." Severus stood up and waved his wand at the box, which started floating behind him as he walked. When he came back, he had two wrapped boxes in his hands. He gave them to his daughter, who smiled at him and walked over to her mother.  
"Mama, these are for you," Elise said, putting the gifts on her mother's lap.   
"Thank you, my love."   
Unwrapping both boxes revealed a necklace with an N on it. The necklace was white gold, with red rhinestones decorating it. In the other box, there was a shrunken photo.   
"In the frame, as you can see, is a photograph of me, you, Alex, papa and Draco, but that's not what everybody else will see. Basically, there's a charm on it that means the one looking at the photo will only see what they truly want to see. If they don't like one of the occupants of the true image, they won't see them, so if Lucius looks at it, he'll only see you and Draco. I thought it was a good idea, because I know you miss Alex, and this way, you can have a photo of him right next to your bed, and Lucius won't even know," Elise said with a grin.   
"Oh, Elise darling. You're such a smart girl. This is perfect. Thank you," Narcissa said, pulling her daughter into a hug.   
"You're welcome. Papa found the frame, though. The charms are linked to the frame," Elise said, returning the hug.   
"Thank you, Sev," Narcissa said, smiling gratefully at him.   
"You're welcome, Sissa."  
"My turn," Alex said, getting up and going to Severus. "Do you have the present?" he asked.   
"Yes I do," Severus said with a smile. "accio Melinda Zabini's present." The present came whizzing towards them, and Alex caught it with a cheer. Going over to his mum, he handed it to her.  
"Thank you, dear," Melinda said, taking the gift from her oldest son with a smile. Unwrapping it revealed a purple jewelry box with the Zabini coat of arms embossed on the front.  
"Oh, Alex. It's beautiful. Thank you," she said, kissing Alex on the cheek.   
"You're welcome," Alex said, blushing.

~

After the present opening was over, Alex and Elise went back to the Slytherin dormitories to get their mirrors. When they returned, Narcissa did a spell to link them to everyone else's, including Severus'.  
"Now all you have to do is say someone's name like you have before, and you'll instantly connect to them. If we need to buy more mirrors in future, I can just reapply the spell, including the new mirrors," Narcissa said, handing them back to their owners.   
"Actually, would you mind holding on to them for us until later?" Alex asked. Elise nodded.   
"Of course not."   
"Are we all ready for lunch?" Severus asked the room. Everyone made some sort of sound of agreement, so Severus called Juniper.   
"Is yous wanting your lunch now?" Juniper asked as soon as she appeared.   
"Yes please."   
Juniper snapped her fingers, and the food appeared. On the table, everybody had a plate, piled high with turkey, buttered potatoes, pigs in blankets, carrots, sweet corn, and Yorkshire puddings, covered in gravy. There were also three platters in the middle of the table, one with chicken, one with stuffing, and one with plane roasted potatoes.   
"Juniper thought it would bes easier for I's to dish out everybody's food for them, since opening presents took a little bit longer than expected. Was that okay?" Juniper said with an unsure look in Severus' direction.   
"No, that was fine. Thank you very much Juniper, for thinking of us like that. This all looks lovely," Severus said with a reassuring smile.   
"Juniper smiled back and snapped her fingers again. Everybody's drinks materialised next to their plates.  
"Is yous wanting anything else?"   
"No thank you. That will be all." With a wave and a pop, Juniper was gone. 

~

Lunch was an enjoyable affair. Every plate was left completely empty.  
"Juniper is an excellent cook," Molly said, taking a sip of her mead.   
"Wow, that's a huge compliment coming from you, mum," Charlie said, grinning.   
"Shush, you. It's true," Molly glared at Charlie.  
"I never said it wasn't," Charlie grumbled quietly, making Bill snigger.  
"Is there cake?" Ron asked through a mouth full of potato.  
"Please don't speak with your mouth full, Ronald. I've told you about that many times, and I don't know. It depends if Juniper has made any," Molly said with a disapproving glance at her youngest son.   
"To answer your question, Ron, yes, there is cake, however, we're going to have it later with all the other desserts Juniper and the other elves have made," Severus explained, smiling slightly.   
"Why can't we have it now?" Ron asked with a scowl.   
"Molly shot Severus an apologetic look. "Because, Ronald, we don't want anyone getting sick. We want you to run around and have fun in the snow first," Molly responded.   
"We're going out in the snow?" Ron asked, brightening.   
"Of course. You didn't think we were going to stay inside all day, did you?" Elise said, grinning at Ron. "We're going out in the snow, but first, papa has to do a few spells on you."   
"Why?" Ginny asked with a confused look in Severus' direction.   
"Because, we have to keep it a secret that you're here. Dumbledore can't know, or he'll send you all home," Elise whispered conspiratorially.   
"Elise is right. I have to do a few spells on you, your brother, Draco and Blaise," Severus said, getting up from the table. Juniper popped in and took all the lunch things away quietly.  
"What will the spells do?" Ginny asked, looking interested now.   
"Well, the first one will hide you from anyone who isn't already with you, so we'll all still be able to see you, but because the other professors and students don't know about the spell, they won't be able to see you, and the second spell will silence your movements in the same way," Severus explained, calling his wand to his hand.   
"Cool, can I go first?" Ginny asked, looking up at Severus.   
"Sure."  
The rest of the kids put their Christmas sweaters and cloaks on, while Severus applied the spells to Ginny. Then, once he was with her, they waited for him to spell the others.  
"Bill and Charlie, would you mind going with them?" Severus asked as he finished applying the spells to Blaise.  
"Yeah, sure," Bill said, putting his cloak on.  
"Gives me an excuse to play in the snow myself," Charlie said with a grin as he put his cloak on as well.  
"Before you all leave, let me apply heating charms to everyone, so you don't have to come in early if you don't want to. Bring them in no later than nine, please."  
"Sure thing," the brothers said together.  
"None of us have gloves except the little ones," Lee pointed out.  
"Give me your hands," Severus said. Lee did so, and Severus conjured a pair of woolen gloves onto his hands.  
"Wow, thanks," Lee said, smiling.  
"You're welcome." Severus continued to do the same for the others, and once they were all kitted out, they left Severus' rooms.  
"How come you and Charlie didn't need to have the spells put on you?" Ginny asked quietly as they made their way through the halls.  
"Because we're adults, and Dumbledore is expecting us to be here," Bill said, tracking their surroundings as they walked.   
"Why would he send us home?"  
"You'll understand as you get older," Bill said as they reached the entrance hall.  
Once they were outside, Ron instantly ran off and started picking up handfuls of snow and throwing them at the others.  
Elise squealed when a bit hit her neck. She threw some back, and that began a snow throwing fight. After a while, they got tired of that game, and decided to make snowmen.   
"Okay, how about this, why don't you guys get into threes, and each make a snowman, which we'll judge. The team with the best snowman gets to choose their dessert first later," Charlie said.  
Everyone liked that idea, and they spent a few minutes arguing about who would be in who's team. In the end, it was decided that Elise and the twins would be one team, Alex, Ginny and Draco would be the second team, and Lee, Blaise and Ron would be the third team.  
"Okay, now that you've picked your teams, I'm going to put up a secrecy ward around each team, so we can be sure there's no cheating going on," Bill said, calling his wand to his hand.   
He put up the wards, and everyone got started on making their snowmen. 

~

"All right, time's up," Bill called, taking the wards down one by one. "Team one, what do we have here? You can very clearly make out all the features. Points for that, and look at that. He even appears to have a bow tie on. "George's work I assume?" Bill asked with a raised eyebrow.  
"Yeah," George said with a small smile.  
"Very impressive. Well done, gentlemen and gentlelady," Bill said with an overly formal nod, making Elise laugh. The twins just looked at their eldest brother as if he'd lost his mind.  
"What do you think, Charlie?" Bill said.  
"I think your assessment is accurate. It's very impressive indeed," Charlie said, smiling at them all.  
"All right, next team," Bill said, walking over to the second team. "Oh wow, this isn't a snowman," Bill said in surprise.  
"No, it's a snow doggy," Ginny grinned.  
"Yeah, Ginny had the great idea of making a snow dog instead. It was allowed, right?" Alex asked, worried.  
"Yeah, it was. Extra points for creativity. This is really good. Is it a puppy or a full grown dog?" Charlie asked.  
"A snow puppy," Ginny answered.  
"Draco, did you help?" Bill asked.  
"Yeah, I did. I made the tail and back legs," Draco grinned.  
"Well done. The tail does look good," Charlie said, smiling at him. "This is becoming a hard one. We're got some very creative people here."   
"All right, let's move on to team three," Bill said.  
"So, what do we have here, guys?" Charlie questioned.  
"A snowman with his hands in his pockets, trying not to fall asleep," Lee said with an amused smile.   
"Oh yeah, I see how you've tried to show that his eyes are half closed. What do you think of this one, Charlie?" Bill asked, still inspecting the snowman.  
"It's just as good as the other two, very well made. It's so hard to choose a winner."  
"You're right. All right, kids, give us a few minutes. Talk amongst yourselves." They did so, and Bill and Charlie moved away a little, putting their heads together. After a couple of minutes, they came back and called for silence.  
"Okay, we've decided. Before we say the winning team, we want you all to remember that all of your creations were great," Bill said, looking at each person in turn, and giving them a smile.  
"Bill's right. Now, can we have a drumroll?" Charlie said.  
"And the winning team is... team two! Alex, Ginny and Draco!" Bill and Charlie cheered in unison. Everybody jumped up and down and clapped. The winning team high fived each other.  
"Well done, guys. You get to choose your dessert first. Now, do we want to play one last game, or go inside?" Charlie asked the group.  
"Go inside!" Everyone chorused.  
"All right, let's go. Stay in your teams and get behind me. Charlie will be behind," Bill said, turning and leading the way inside.  
They went inside and began the walk back down to the dungeons and to Severus' rooms. As they reached the great hall, Bill turned quickly, and put a finger to his lips, signaling that they should all be quiet.  
"Hi, Bill. How have you been?" Professor Mcgonagall asked as she left the great hall.  
"I've been good, thanks. What about you?" Bill forced a smile.  
"I've been very well, thank you. How's the family?"  
"Good good. Me, Charlie, mum and Dad came to visit the twins for the day."  
"Oh, how nice. I was quite surprised when I saw them signing up to stay here."  
"Well, they have made some new friends as well. Elise Black, Alex Malfoy and Lee Jordan. They said they wanted to spend Christmas here this year and see what Christmas at Hogwarts was like," Charlie said, joining the conversation.  
"Yes, I heard about that from Filius," Mcgonagall said with a thin smile. "Have you had a good day, then?" She asked the students.  
"Yes, professor," they chorused.   
"That's good. Well, I'll let you get on. Let your mum and dad know I said hello," Mcgonagall said, starting to walk away.  
"We will!" Bill called back, leading the group off at a slightly hurried pace.  
Once they were round a few corners, Bill slowed down. Him and Charlie shared a glance. Eventually, they got back to Severus' rooms, and Bill knocked a few times on the wall. They heard the chimes from inside, and minute later, Severus was letting them back in.  
"Hello. Did you have a good time?" he asked as the entrance closed.  
"Yes! We made snow models and we had a snow throwing fight. It was so much fun," Ginny blurted. The others agreed, and the adults all smiled.  
"That's great. Now, who's ready for some dessert?" Narcissa asked with a wide smile. The was a burst of noise in response, and Narcissa laughed. “All right, all right. Sev, would you mind calling Juniper?" she said with a grin.  
"Juniper!"  
With a pop, Juniper appeared, a Christmas hat on her little head.  
"Hello, everybody, Is yous wantings dessert now?"  
"Yes please, Juniper. Before you bring them, could you tell everyone what there is?"  
"We have Christmas pudding, chocolate cake, chocolate eclairs, and toasted marshmallows with hot coco," Juniper said, bouncing on the balls of her feet.  
"Wow, that's a lot. You've done an incredible job, Juniper. Let the other elves know that as well, please. All right, you can bring it all through."  
"Thank you, master Severus. I's wills let them know."  
Juniper snapped her fingers, and small trays of each dessert materialised on the table. With another snap of her fingers, the table expanded, and with one more snap, the Christmas pudding and chocolate cake materialised to join everything else.  
"Enjoy, just call Juniper when yous is done," and with that, Juniper disappeared again.   
"Before we start eating, two things," Bill said suddenly. Everyone's focus turned to him. "When we were outside and making the snow creations, we made a little bit of a competition out of it. Charlie and I said that the winning team would get to choose their dessert first, and that team was Alex, Ginny and Draco," Bill said, grinning.  
"Oh, wow. What did you guys create?" Melinda asked.  
"We made a snow puppy," Draco said.  
"Very nice."  
"All right, you three can choose first, then," Severus smiled. They chose their desserts and all opted to have them with hot chocolate. Ginny and Alex went for the chocolate cake, while Draco chose eclairs. Everyone else chose their desserts and a mug of coco, and sat either on the sofas or on the floor, by the fire.  
"Oh yeah, mum, dad, Minerva said hi," Charlie said before taking a bite of his cake.  
"Oh, how is she?" Molly asked.  
"She said she was well," Bill said.  
"This pudding is amazing," Melinda said to Severus.  
"It really is," Narcissa agreed.  
"We have the best of the best here, especially personal elves. Loci and Juniper have been in mine and Filius' families for years now," Severus said.

~

After everyone had finished their desserts and hot coco, it was time for goodbyes.   
"It's getting late now. We're going to have to go. Thank you so much for today, Severus. It was great seeing you and Sissa again, and it's been really nice getting to know you properly, Melinda," Molly said, getting up and taking her bowl and mug back over to the dining table.  
"That's no problem. These five will be going back to their dormitories after you've all left anyway," Severus said, looking over to the aforementioned quintet.  
"All right, well, take care of yourselves, kids. Be good, Fred and George. I'll see you again at the end of the year," Molly said, putting her cloak on and going over to give them a hug. They wriggled a bit in her grip, but they were smiling by the time she released them.  
"See you later, mum," They said together.  
"See you later, boys," Arthur said with a pat on the back to them both. Bill and Charlie gave them each a high five. They then ruffled Ron and Ginny's hair, making them scowl.  
"I think we're going to head off as well," Melinda said. She came over to Alex and kissed the top of his forehead. She did the same to Elise before helping Blaise into his cloak.  
"Dray, come here. You too, Blaise!" Elise called. They both came over. "Group hug!" she said, wrapping one arm around them and the other around Alex. They all protested loudly. "Oh, shush. We're not gonna see you little worms till summer," Elise said. Draco grumbled a little more, till his sister poked him in the side. That made him giggle, as he was quite ticklish. Pulling back from the group, she looked at both nine year olds sternly. "Be good for mama and Melinda. I'll be very sat if you're not," she said with a fake sniffle at the end. They both smiled but promised to be good.  
"Thanks for that, El. Let's hope they are good now," Narcissa said with a fond smile.  
"I tried. See you later, mama. I'll call you on my mirror soon," Elise said, hugging her mother.  
"All right', love. Take care, boys," Elise's mother said with a smile to Alex and the rest of the quintet. They smiled back at her.  
"Thank you for today, Severus," Lee said once everyone's families had left.  
"Yeah, it really means a lot that our families could visit for the day," Alex said.  
"You're more than welcome. It was a fun day but unfortunately, you've got to start making your way back to your common rooms. I'm going to ask Juniper to take Fred and George to avoid Minerva. She'll aperate you there, but because Professor Flitwick doesn't mind these things and Alex and Elise have been here all day, you guys can make your own ways back." Severus called Juniper, and she appeared for a few seconds before disappearing again, this time with the twins. Lee was the next one to Leave.   
"Al, would you mind waiting for a minute?" Elise said quietly to her brother with a quick glance to her father.  
"Of course not," Alex said, smiling at her. Elise went back over to her father.  
"Hi, papa, I just want to say thank you again. This was the best Christmas I've ever had," Elise said.  
"You're welcome, little one. It's the best Christmas I've had as well. See you in the morning, then?"   
"Probably not until tomorrow afternoon," Elise laughed. Severus chuckled briefly and Elise gave a small wave as she left the room. 

~

Later on, in the Ravenclaw common room, Lee was sitting on a couch with Penelope Clearwater, one of the fifth year prefects. He had asked her to wait up for him and let her know that he'd be back late. She was pretty much the only Ravenclaw he spoke to at the moment.  
"So, how was your Christmas?" Penelope asked, smiling.  
"It was awesome. My friends' families are so nice. Elise's mum actually bought me a gift, and so did Fred and George's parents and older brothers," Lee said with a grin. "The food was incredible too."   
"Did you guys have something different to us then?"  
"No, we just had more selection for dessert probably. We also had a Christmas themed breakfast, which was awesome."  
"Wow, who made that?" Penelope said, intrigued.  
"Professor Snape's personal elf. She works here when he's here."  
"Cool, and you didn't mind your parents not being able to come?" Penelope asked cautiously.  
"Honestly, no, you know what our relationship is like. They're great, but we're not like the average close family. They were more than happy for me to stay here. They'd probably be happy for me to stay every year," Lee said with a roll of his eyes.  
"Sorry," Penelope said.  
"No, it's fine. How was yours?"   
"It wasn't bad, actually. Nice and quiet, the way I like things," Penelope said, looking pleased. Lee just laughed.   
"I'm glad you enjoyed my absence," he said, pouting.  
"Oh, shut up. You know that's not what I meant," Penelope said, sticking her tongue out at him. "anyway, you should probably get to bed."   
"Yeah, probably," Lee said with a yawn. "Night, Penny."  
"Night, Lee," Penelope said as they both stood up and made their way to the staircase. They smiled at each other one last time before going to there rooms.  
In his room, Lee took off his cloak and sweater and put them on his desk chair. He then went over to his bed, put his presents at the foot of it, and fell back onto the covers. After a few minutes of laying there, he sat up again and got changed into his pajamas before going to the foot of his bed and retrieving his mirror.  
"Elise Black."   
It took a little while for Elise's face to appear.  
"Hey, Lee, What's up? Sorry I took a minute. Hades is upset with me for leaving him alone all day," Elise said with a sigh.  
"Oh, dam. Well, I just wanted to thank you for today, and double check what time we're meeting up tomorrow."  
"Oh, you're welcome, and I was thinking twelve. I doubt any of us will want to do much of anything before then," Elise said with a short laugh.   
"Yeah, you're probably right. Want me to pass that on?"   
"If you wouldn't mind," Elise said through a yawn.   
"No, not at all. Okay, night. See you tomorrow."  
"See you tomorrow," Lee said, waving. The glass went blank, and Lee went in to call the rest of the group. After talking to the other guys, he put his mirror under his pillow, and buried himself in his covers. In a few minutes, all that could be heard were soft snores. The first Christmas had past, and it had been a huge success.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y’all, we really hope you enjoyed this chapter. It took a little longer than anticepated because of the length. Alex did the editing, so a huge thanks to him for that.  
> I just wanted to clear up a few things.I know that Trench came out two years ago, but because it doesn’t take away anything from the plot, i’m not going to bother trying to match music with the time period. As you can tell from the last section of the chapter, Lee isn’t going to be close with his parents. It would be way too much stress to talk about everybody’s families and show everybody spending time with their families when not at school, so I decided that it would be easier if Lee had a stilted relationship with his parents. That would then explain why they’re not mentioned much. Pansy’s parents won’t be very prominent either. The main parents are the ones you see in this chapter, plus somebody else who will be introduced later on.  
> Another thing, is that Penelope is going to be like a mentor of sorts to Lee so there will be a few more moments like the one at the end of the chapter. Adding to that, even though the main twelve will obviously be a tight nit group, there will be certain people who are closer with others, which you’ll also see as the story progresses.  
> If anyone has any questions about anything else, feel free to leave them in the comments. As always though, be aware that I won’t be able to answer somethings as they would spoil the story.  
> Chapter 8 will be out sometime next month. Till then we hope you all have a great Christmas despite the current circumstances.  
> Destiny and Alex, XX.


	11. Important notice

Hey y’all, Destiny here.  
First I want to apologize for the lack of a new chapter. I had plans to have chapter 8 out by the 18th, but that’s no longer doable. I found out last Tuesday that someone I went to school with passed away two Fridays ago. I’m not going to be putting the story on hold however. Writing is an escape for me so I’ll still be working on the chapter when I have the motivation. I’ve written quite a lot of it already, but it’s not going to be possible for me to post it on the 18th as I have no motivation today and probably won’t again for another couple days. I’m aiming to get the chapter out by sometime next month instead. Then from then I’m going to give myself two months to write each future chapter. So expect chapters to be out anywhere between a month to two from each other. The next thing you guys should know, is that until further notice, it’s only going to be me writing chapters for this story. Alex has solo projects that he’s working on and doesn’t feel the same inspiration for this story as I do anymore. Luckily we have the entire thing planned out so I don’t have to worry about much. That’s about it. Thank you to everyone who has been reading and leaving kudo’s. Bye for now XX.


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